White Pine is 0-10 against Needles since April of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The White Pine Bobcats will be staying on the road to face off against the Needles Mustangs at 4:00 p.m. White Pine is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 9.5 runs per game this season.
White Pine lost 13-1 to Lake Mead Academy on Friday.
White Pine saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Daniel Highline, who went 1-for-1 with an RBI. Dylan Cessford was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in all two of his plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Needles can now show off 18 landslide victories after their most recent contest on Friday. They were the clear victor by a 13-3 margin over Sports Leadership & Management. The victory was nothing new for Needles as they're now sitting on seven straight.
Collin Smith and Holden Jones made a splash while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Smith didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out 12 over four innings pitched. Meanwhile, Jones tossed two innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off two hits. At the plate, Smith scored a run and stole a base, while Jones scored a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
In other batting news, Talon Paget was a standout: he scored four runs and stole two bases while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Hudson Smith, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI, a stolen base, and a double.
White Pine's loss dropped their record down to 17-5. As for Needles, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 12 of their last 14 games, which provided a nice bump to their 21-7 record this season.
Thursday's match will be a test for both team's pitchers. White Pine hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .336. However, it's not like Needles struggles in that department as they've averaged .373. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
White Pine might still be hurting after the 11-0 defeat they got from Needles when the teams last played back in April. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Smith, who pitched 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Now that White Pine knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
