The McMinn Central Chargers will venture away from home to square off against the East Hamilton Hurricanes at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Tuesday, McMinn Central got the win against Polk County by a conclusive 7-1. The win continues a trend for the Chargers in their matchups with the Wildcats: they've now won five in a row.
Devon Paxton was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 12 over seven innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up a single earned run in seven consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
Paxton wasn't the only one making solid contact as five players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Garrett Wilcox, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two RBI. That's the most RBI Wilcox has posted since back in March. Another was Ayden Plemons, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI and one run.
Meanwhile, East Hamilton waltzed into their match on Saturday with three straight wins... but they left with four. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past the Lions 6-4.
Griffin Phillips tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only two hits while striking out six over 5.1 innings pitched. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because East Hamilton is 5-2 when he allows at most one earned run, but 11-13 otherwise.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Peyton Harris, who went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one triple. He has become a key player for East Hamilton: the team is 7-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 9-14 otherwise. Grayson Maddox was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two RBI.
McMinn Central's win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 20-11. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.8 runs on average over those games. As for East Hamilton, they now have a winning record of 16-15.
McMinn Central beat East Hamilton 4-1 in their previous meeting back in March. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Chargers since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
