The Bear Creek Bears will head out on the road to face off against the Valor Christian Eagles at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Bear Creek has struggled recently with three defeats in a row, while Valor Christian will arrive with four straight wins.
Bear Creek fought the good fight in their extra-innings contest against Chatfield on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Chargers by a score of 6-5. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last five times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
Josh Nelson and Matt Hegerle did some serious damage despite the final result: Nelson went 1-for-2 with three stolen bases, two RBI, and one run, while Hegerle went 2-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Max Radford, who went 1-for-4 with one home run.
Meanwhile, after only two runs in their last game, Valor Christian made sure to put some runs up on the board against Columbine on Tuesday. The Eagles were the clear victors by a 15-4 margin over the Rebels. The match marked the Eagles' most dominant victory of the season.
Trystan Chadwick was a major factor no matter where he played. He tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He also tossed a walk, which is notable because Valor Christian is 2-1 when he allows at most one walk, but 4-8 otherwise. Chadwick was also big at the plate, going 1-for-4 with one home run and two runs.
In other pitching news, Brigham Brown tossed a big game, striking out 11 batters over five innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off five hits.
Back at the plate, Valor Christian got a massive performance out of Travis Kenz, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with three runs and one double. Those three runs gave Kenz a new career-high. Ryan Fletemyer also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.
Valor Christian always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .523. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in four consecutive contests.
Bear Creek's loss dropped their record down to 3-11. As for Valor Christian, their record now sits at 6-9.
Bear Creek might still be hurting after the 8-1 defeat they got from Valor Christian in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Can the Bears avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.