The West Muskingum Tornadoes will take on the Claymont Mustangs in a tournament on Tuesday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
On Thursday, West Muskingum got the win against Morgan by a conclusive 8-1. The win continues a trend for the Tornadoes in their matchups with the Raiders: they've now won four in a row.
Ashton Ansel spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered a run (which was unearned) on five hits and racked up 14 Ks. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because West Muskingum is undefeated when he allows at most one earned run, but 8-9 otherwise.
Grady Dollings
| 05/15/25 @ Morgan | 2 |
| 04/28/25 vs New Lexington | 1 |
| 04/19/25 vs East Knox | 1 |
| 04/17/25 vs John Glenn | 1 |
| 04/14/25 vs Crooksville | 1 |
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Grady Dollings, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two stolen bases and two runs. Those two stolen bases gave him a new career-high. Kaiden Fleming was another key player, earning one run and three stolen bases.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Claymont). They were the clear victors by a 17-4 margin over Tuscarawas Central Catholic on Friday. The team's explosion at the plate also rewarded the Mustangs with their most commanding win of the season.
Braylon Meuhlen made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing four innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Meuhlen was also big at the plate, going 1-for-4 with one run and one RBI.
In other batting news, Ethan Fair was a standout: he went 2-for-3 with four stolen bases, three runs, and four RBI. Another player making a difference was Connor Hillyer, who went 2-for-3 with one home run and six RBI.
Claymont always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .513. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.
Claymont is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-15 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 4.0 runs on average over those games. As for West Muskingum, their win bumped their record up to 12-9.
Claymont's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: West Muskingum hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .326. It's a different story for Claymont, though, as they've only averaged .216. Will they be able to contain West Muskingum's hitters?
Everything went West Muskingum's way against Claymont in their previous meeting back in April of 2022, as West Muskingum made off with a 12-2 victory. Do the Tornadoes have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Mustangs turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
