The Roane County Yellowjackets are taking a road trip to challenge the Harriman Blue Devils at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Roane County has three straight victories, Harriman has nine straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
On Thursday, Roane County made easy work of Midway and carried off a 13-1 win. The matchup marked the Yellowjackets' most dominant victory of the season so far.
Isaiah Harrill made a big impact no matter where he played. He pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one hit in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
In other pitching news, Landon Riter looked comfortable as he struck out six batters over four innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits.
Back at the plate, the team relied heavily on James Lane, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-2. Another player making a difference was Brighton Presley, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Roane County always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .531. That was just more of the same: they've now posted an OBP of .500 or higher in three consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, while it was Harriman who put the first points on the board on Tuesday, it was Midway who put up more. Harriman fell 9-5 to Midway.
Terre' Lee made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-4. Lane Taylor also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
Roane County's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-3-1. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.7 runs over those games. As for Harriman, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-7.
Roane County beat Harriman 5-0 in their previous matchup back in April of 2021. The rematch might be a little tougher for Roane County since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
