The Paintsville Tigers will challenge the Russell Red Devils at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Paintsville 3.9, Russell 3.7) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Paintsville is headed into Wednesday's contest looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight games on Monday. They took a 10-6 hit to the loss column at the hands of Perry County Central. The pitching woes were uncharacteristic for the Tigers, who until this matchup were averaging 3.88 runs allowed.
Luke Stratton was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run. Lukas Stewart was another key player, getting on base in two of his four plate appearances with two runs.
Meanwhile, Russell won against East Carter on Monday with 15 runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Tuesday. The Red Devils were the clear victors by a 15-2 margin over Rowan County. Considering the Red Devils have won 12 games by more than six runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Lokelio Ancheta made a big impact no matter where he played. He pitched five innings while giving up just two earned runs off five hits. Ancheta was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with three runs. That's the most runs he has posted since back in March.
In other batting news, Russell got a massive performance out of Jacob Toliver, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with four RBI and two runs. Another player making a difference was Jayden Frasure, who went 2-for-4 with one home run and five RBI.
Russell always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .611. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Rowan County only posted an OBP of .300.
Russell has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 18-7 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.6 runs on average over those games. As for Paintsville, their loss dropped their record down to 13-11.
Paintsville couldn't quite finish off Russell when the teams last played back in May of 2024 and fell 3-1. Can the Tigers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
