The Raiders face a tough challenge in the sub-region round of the Region XVI tournament.
The eighth-seeded Raid- ers will face top-seeded and sixth-ranked Crowder in the first round Friday in Neosho in a best-of-three series. The times of the games are to be determined with weather in the forecast.
“The one thing we’re going to have to do well is we’re going to have to pitch it on the hill,” Three Rivers coach Tyler Smith said. “Our guys are working hard, and I really think they’re motivat- ed, and we’re going to come out and compete well tomorow.”
The Roughriders swept the four-game series between the two at the end of March, winning 7-1, 16-1, 7-6 and 13-1.
“We played them well in three of the four games,” Smith said. “If we pitch it and don’t walk guys, we’ll have a chance.”
Crowder was on a 32- game winning streak until losing close games against St. Charles and Jefferson to finish the season. The Roughriders still won 3 of 4 in each of the series.
Crowder enters the post-season ranked in the top-5 nationally in eight different offensive categories and is averaging 10.88 runs per game. A low-scoring game would favor the defensive oriented Raiders, who are 16-1 when they score at least seven runs.
“If we can make it to where it’s a one-run home run and not a three-run home run, we’re going to have a chance,” Smith said. “We’re not a power team. If we keep it under four runs, we have a chance.”
Logan Chambers and Josh Patrick lead the Roughrid- ers with 13 home runs each, and Frankie Circello has 10. All three have an on-base percentage of around .450, though each is among the top five on the team in strikeouts.
James Hicks leads Crowder on the mound with 61 innings and pitched the opening game of Crowder’s regular-season series. He has a 3.98 ERA and is averaging a strikeout per inning with six complete games.
Kaleb Hill, a sophomore lefty, has 51 2/3 innings of work this year and four complete games with a 3.14 ERA. He’s also averaging 11.32 strikeouts per nine innings.
Of the 19 Roughriders who have thrown at least one inning this season, all but two are averaging a strikeout per inning.
When the Raiders faced Hicks the first time, they got just two hits and limited Crowder to seven as Hicks finished with seven strikeouts. Two of those seven hits were home runs.
“He’s a sinkerball guy that doesn’t elevate a lot of pitches and doesn’t walk anybody,” Smith said, adding Hicks throws around 88-90 MPH. “We’re going to capi- talize on any mistakes if they make them and find some barrels along the way.”
Chad Donze will get the start in the opener. He also started opposite Hicks in March and allowed four hits and six walks with two strikeouts over four innings.
“If he can go deep in the game, we will throw Cody Bond the second game. We may have to use Cody in the first game. It dependson how it goes,” Smith said.
Cade Cancilla leads the Raiders with a .397 bat- ting average this season with 10 home runs and 31 RBIs. Lara is hitting .364 and leads the team with 12 doubles.
Scott Borkgren - Daily American Republic