Ballinger is 10-0 against Merkel since April of 2016, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Ballinger Bearcats will head out on the road to challenge the Merkel Badgers at 2:00 p.m.
On Tuesday, Ballinger sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with an 8-7 victory over Merkel. The win made it back-to-back victories for Ballinger.
For Merkel's part, Ryland Pittman put in work no matter where he played. He struck out eight batters over 4.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and four unearned) runs off three hits. Pittman was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with three RBI, a stolen base, and a double.
In other batting news, CJ Walcott was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Aiden Jackson, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.
Ballinger's win bumped their record up to 8-6. As for Merkel, they have not been sharp recently as the team has lost six of their last eight games, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-11 record this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
