The Rockwood Rockets will square off against the Blacklick Valley Vikings at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Rockwood sitting on five straight wins and Blacklick Valley on 14.
Rockwood will bounce into Friday's match after beating North Star, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. The Rockets walked away with a 7-2 victory over the Cougars on Thursday.
Carson Brown
| 05/01/25 vs North Star | 7 |
| 04/29/25 @ Meyersdale | 2 |
| 04/25/25 @ Berlin Brothersvalley | 6 |
| 04/22/25 @ McConnellsburg | 0 |
| 04/17/25 @ Fannett Metal | 2 |
| + 4 more games |
Carson Brown made a splash no matter where he played. He struck out seven batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned runs off eight hits. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in March. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going a perfect 3-for-3 with four stolen bases, three runs, and one double.
In other batting news, Max Trimpey was incredible, going 2-for-3 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in May of 2024. Nathan Show was another key player, getting on base in two of his three plate appearances with two stolen bases and two runs.
Meanwhile, while Blacklick Valley put up plenty of runs on Wednesday, the same can't be said for Bishop Carroll. The Vikings blew past the Huskies 14-0. The Vikings might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five games by ten runs or more this season.
Like Rockwood, Blacklick Valley also got a great game from a two-way player: Eli Sheesley. He looked comfortable on the mound, keeping things locked down with no earned runs or hits over five innings pitched. Sheesley has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-5 with three RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Drew McEvoy, who went 4-for-5 with four runs, two RBI, and one double. Another player making a difference was Collin Nedrich, who went 4-for-5 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.
Blacklick Valley was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .412. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in five consecutive contests.
Blacklick Valley's win was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 14-1. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.4 runs on average over those games. As for Rockwood, their win bumped their record up to 12-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Rockwood has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.1 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Blacklick Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.1 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Rockwood beat Blacklick Valley 8-4 when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Will the Rockets repeat their success, or do the Vikings have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
