The Cherryville Ironmen will take on the South Stanly Rowdy Rebel Bulls in a tournament on Monday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Cherryville 3.3, South Stanly 3.9) so any runs scored will be well earned.
South Stanly will be up against a hot Cherryville squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. The Ironmen never let Bessemer City get on the board and left with a 10-0 victory on Thursday. The result was nothing new for the Ironmen, who have now won nine matches by seven runs or more so far this season.
Aaron Heavner
| 04/17/25 vs Bessemer City | 2 |
| 03/28/25 vs Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy | 1 |
| 03/21/25 @ East Gaston | 1 |
| 04/30/24 vs Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy | 1 |
| 03/14/24 @ Shelby | 1 |
Aaron Heavner and Brock Bumgardner were major factors no matter where they played. On the mound, Heavner tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Bumgardner' struck out seven batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Heavner has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one walk in ten consecutive appearances. At bat, Heavner went a perfect 2-for-2 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI, while Bumgardner' got on base in all four of his plate appearances with one home run. Those two stolen bases gave Heavner a new career-high.
In other batting news, Parker Anderson was incredible, going 2-for-3 with three runs and two doubles. Another player making a difference was Kenan Fowler, who went 2-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.
Cherryville was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .381. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Bessemer City only posted a batting average of .062.
Meanwhile, after some red-hot attacks at the plate in their last three contests, South Stanly finally came back down to earth on Thursday. They lost 9-0 to Union Academy. The game marked the first time this year in which the Rowdy Rebel Bulls were not able to get on the board.
Cherryville's win bumped their record up to 14-5. As for South Stanly, with the defeat, they broke their three-game winning streak and moved their record to 15-5.
Cherryville was able to grind out a solid victory over South Stanly in their previous matchup back in May of 2023, winning 6-1. Will the Ironmen repeat their success, or do the Rowdy Rebel Bulls have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
