The Bamberg-Ehrhardt Red Raiders will take on the Branchville Yellow Jackets at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Bamberg-Ehrhardt took a loss when they played away from home on Wednesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They blew past American Leadership Academy 13-3. The high-scoring performance was a welcome turnaround for the Red Raiders' hitters, who had struggled in the games prior.
Meanwhile, Branchville never let their opponents score on Friday. They were the clear victors by a 22-0 margin over Military Magnet Academy. The Yellow Jackets have beaten the Eagles the last three times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Eagles has come to flipping the script.
Hunter Steedly looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Branchville is 2-1 when Steedly allows three or fewer earned runs, but 3-5 otherwise.
At the plate, Mason McCormack and Luke Shaw did most of the damage at the plate: McCormack went 3-for-4 with three runs, four RBI, and one double, while Shaw went 2-for-3 with three runs, four RBI, and one stolen base. Those three hits gave McCormack a new career-high. Seth Shaw was another key player, going 2-for-3 with three RBI and one triple.
Branchville always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .633. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Branchville's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 5-6. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Bamberg-Ehrhardt, they moved to 2-5 with that victory, which also ended their three-game losing streak.
Bamberg-Ehrhardt came out on top in a nail-biter against Branchville in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, sneaking past 5-4. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Red Raiders since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
