The Maiden Blue Devils are on the road again on Friday to play the Morehead Panthers. The pair are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Maiden is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand North Surry a 6-0 shutout.
Not much got past Hayden Fleury, who gave up just one hit and racked up 11 Ks to keep North Surry off the board. Fleury has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in six consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Brock Artavia, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Brycen James, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Morehead put the finishing touches on their 18th blowout victory of the season on Wednesday. They put the hurt on Southwestern Randolph with a sharp 11-1 victory. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for Morehead considering their two-run performance the game before.
Anderson Nance made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out nine batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits (and not a single walk). Nance was also big at the plate, scoring three runs while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Carson Moore, who scored a run while going 3-for-4. Seth Sharpe was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-2.
Maiden has been performing well recently as they've won 11 of their last 13 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 18-7 record this season. As for Morehead, they pushed their record up to 23-2 with that win, which was their third straight at home.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Maiden has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Morehead struggles in that department as they've been averaging 10.2. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Maiden came up short against Morehead in their previous matchup back in April of 2019, falling 5-1. Thankfully for Maiden, Logan Dodson (who tossed seven innings while giving up just one earned run off six hits) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
