The Pope County Pirates will face off against the Crab Orchard Trojans at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Pope County is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.4 runs per game this season.
Last Tuesday, Pope County earned a 4-1 victory over Gallatin County. That's two games straight that the Pirates have won by exactly three runs.
Tucker Nalley made a splash no matter where he played. He didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out 11 over six innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in four consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Gavin Taylor
| 03/26/25 @ Century | 3 |
| 03/18/25 vs Shawnee | 3 |
| 04/01/25 @ Gallatin County | 2 |
| 03/17/25 vs Vienna | 2 |
| 03/25/25 @ Massac County | 1 |
In other batting news, Gavin Taylor was excellent, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4. He is becoming a predictor of Pope County's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 3-1 (and 0-3 when he doesn't).
Meanwhile, Crab Orchard fell victim to Galatia/Thompsonville and their airtight pitching crew on Tuesday. They took a 4-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Bearcats. The Trojans haven't had much luck with the Bearcats recently, as the team has come up short the last four times they've met.
The win made it two in a row for Pope County and bumps their season record up to 3-4. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.0 runs over those games. As for Crab Orchard, they now also have a losing record of 3-4.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Thursday as neither team is afraid to steal. Pope County has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Crab Orchard struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.1 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Pope County came out on top in a nail-biter against Crab Orchard when the teams last played back in April of 2024, sneaking past 9-7. Will the Pirates repeat their success, or do the Trojans have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
