Baseball Game Preview: Superior Panthers vs. Valley Union Blue Devils

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Previous 5 Games

03/29/19 - Home	3-0 W
04/23/18 - Away	7-2 W
05/13/17 - Neutral	12-8 W
04/24/17 - Home	10-3 W
04/30/16 - Neutral	11-8 W

Superior has gone a perfect 5-0 against Valley Union recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Saturday. The Panthers will challenge the Blue Devils at 2:00 p.m. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Superior is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Saturday. Everything went their way against Desert Heights Prep as they made off with an 8-2 victory. The Panthers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven games by six runs or more this season.

Superior's win was truly a team effort as six different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Raiden Sommer, who went 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Valley Union won against Fort Thomas two weeks ago with six runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Saturday. The Blue Devils beat El Capitan by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 6-3. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Blue Devils.

Dylan Mitchell was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out seven over five innings pitched. He has become a key player for Valley Union: the team is undefeated when he allows at most one hit, but 2-5 otherwise. Mitchell was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.

Superior moved to 9-14 with that victory, which also ended their seven-game losing streak. As for Valley Union, their record is now 10-5.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Superior has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Valley Union struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Superior was able to grind out a solid win over Valley Union in their previous meeting back in March of 2019, winning 3-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Panthers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.