The Hickory Hawks will challenge the Kempsville Chiefs at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Hickory is coming into the game hot, having won their last seven games.
On Tuesday, Hickory beat Indian River 7-2.
Tommy Blackburn tossed a big game, striking out seven batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off six hits. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in April of 2024.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Ryan Kennedy, who earned two runs and two stolen bases. That's the most stolen bases he has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Eli Kraft, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base and one run.
Meanwhile, Tuesday just wasn't the day for Kempsville's offense. They came up short against Ocean Lakes on Tuesday, falling 10-0. Having soared to a lofty 11 runs in the game before, the Chiefs' shutout was a dramatic turnaround.
Hickory pushed their record up to 15-5 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.5 runs over those games. As for Kempsville, they now have a losing record of 9-10.
Kempsville's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Hickory hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .327. It's a different story for Kempsville, though, as they've only averaged .257. Will they be able to contain Hickory's hitters? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
