It’s game one of the abbreviated high school baseball season for the Greene County Rams. It’s Greene County at Saydel High School on the northeast side of Des Moines. Game time is approximately 7:30 p.m. and former Ram athlete Matt Paulsen makes his debut as the head coach of the program he once played for. The varsity contest will be broadcast on KG98 and streamed on www.raccoonvalleyradio.com with coverage after 7 p.m.

The Rams were 10-23 last season while the Eagles were 11-16 and they split two games in 2019. Senior Brent Riley is the top returning pitcher from last year and he talks with Raccoon Valley Radio about the Rams limiting pitchers to 65 or fewer pitches early in the season. “You have to have a certain amount of rest (between pitching appearances), it’s early in the year, and we’ve only had two weeks of practice, which is a lot, but normally pitchers would have been throwing all spring. You don’t want somebody to get hurt right away. It matters more in Districts and later in the season. You want everybody at their best at the end, so we need to be healthy now.”

Sophomore Bryce Stalder is expected to be the starting pitcher for Greene County tonight.