The Western Reserve Blue Devils will venture away from home to square off against the Mineral Ridge Rams at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Western Reserve's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. Everything went their way against McKinley as they made off with a 14-0 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Blue Devils.
Mara Kale
| 04/28/26 vs McKinley | 7 |
| 04/18/26 @ Memorial | 4 |
| 04/15/26 @ Aquinas | 4 |
| 04/21/26 @ Lowellville | 2 |
| 04/20/26 vs Lowellville | 2 |
Mara Kale made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out seven over five innings pitched. Those seven strikeouts gave her a new career-high. She was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in all three of her plate appearances with two runs.
In other batting news, Western Reserve got a big performance out of Baylie Sinn, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double. That double marked the first that Sinn has hit this season. Another player making a difference was Kylee Ramsey, who went 1-for-2 with two runs, one double, and one RBI.
Western Reserve was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .476. They are 3-1 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Meanwhile, Mineral Ridge got the win against Memorial on Monday by a conclusive 15-1. The Rams have beaten the Red Devils the last four times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Red Devils has come to flipping the script.
The team relied heavily on Sullivan Sandy, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base. She has been hot, having posted at least one stolen base the last six times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Maddie Gerberry, who went 2-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI.
Western Reserve now has a winning record of 7-6. As for Mineral Ridge, their record is now 14-5.
Thursday's contest might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. Western Reserve has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .436. However, it's not like Mineral Ridge struggles in that department as they've averaged .498. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Western Reserve might still be hurting after the 21-6 loss they got from Mineral Ridge in their previous matchup on Thursday. Can the Blue Devils avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
