Ooltewah hasn't had much luck against Walker Valley recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Owls will host the Mustangs at 5:30 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Ooltewah 3, Walker Valley 2) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Ooltewah barely beat Hixson the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Owls' pitcher stepped up to hand the Wildcats a 14-0 shutout on Wednesday. The win continues a trend for the Owls in their matchups with the Wildcats: they've now won three in a row.
Ooltewah let Leighton Reed and Addilyn Watts run wild. Reed went a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs, one stolen base, and one double, while Watts went a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs, two RBI, and one double. That's the most RBI Watts has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Jaeda Tucker, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.
They weren't the only ones making solid contact: Ooltewah kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 17 hits. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their hit total in four consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Walker Valley faced Alcoa in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Saturday. The Mustangs fell just short of the Tornadoes by a score of 3-2.
Walker Valley saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Vanessa Byers, who went 2-for-3 with two runs.
Walker Valley's defeat dropped their record down to 24-6-1. As for Ooltewah, their victory bumped their record up to 20-7.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Ooltewah hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Walker Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Ooltewah came out on top in a nail-biter against Walker Valley in their previous meeting last Tuesday, sneaking past 5-4. Do the Owls have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Mustangs turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
