The World Series begins Tuesday when the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers meet for the first game of their best-of-seven series. It will pit two star-studded pitching staffs against each other.

Houston’s Justin Verlander and Dallas Keuchel will do battle with the big bats from Los Angeles. The Dodgers have Yasiel Puig, Justin Turner, and rookie sensation Cody Bellinger.

Los Angeles’ pitching staff, boasting a collective 2.28 ERA in the postseason, will counter with Clayton Kershaw and Yu Darvish. Their main concern against the Astros, batting .247 as a team, will be Jose Altuve. He has a .400 average and five home runs in the playoffs.

The series will prove interesting not only because of the matchups on the field. Houston, making only its second appearance in the World Series, has never won the title. Los Angeles will be making its first World Series appearance since winning it in 1988.

All in all, it’s the first time in almost 50 years two teams with 100 or more wins will clash in the World Series. This one has all the makings to be a classic. Here’s what Beaufort County’s baseball coaches expect:

 

Northside coach Keith Boyd on what he looks for in a World Series:

“I want six or seven games. I like it when someone has a home stand and they go 1-1 at the first site. They battle and it adds a little drama to it. Everybody winning at home, it kind of gets old. Let it go back and forth, and then Game 7 let it all hang out.”

 

Washington coach Kevin Leggett on how the two teams’ history adds intrigue:

“Anytime you have teams — just like last year with the Cubs — that haven’t won it in forever. L.A., you don’t really think about it as much. … But especially Houston, you want to root for them, especially after the hurricane. That would be great for that town.”

 

Leggett on getting to watch two dominant teams play in the World Series:

“I think it’s good for baseball. You want the best teams playing each other, and that’s what you’ve got. Sometimes you get a wild card that’s on a hot streak, which is good, too. You get the underdog story. But it’s nice to see the guys that earned it, played well all year, make it to the big game.”

 

Southside coach Kevin McRoy on pitching:

“Pitching is going to be strong either way. You’re looking at (Clayton) Kershaw, (Dallas) Keuchel, (Justin) Verlander, (Yu) Darvish. You’ve got a number of guys who are studs. Offensively, you’ve got a little more power, I feel like, in L.A., but Houston is putting the bat on the ball and putting it in play.”

 

Boyd on what he likes about the matchup:

“The strengths of the two teams are total opposites. If Houston can hit the Dodgers’ pitching, then I give the edge to Houston. Then again, if the Dodgers can cool down Houston and slow their offense. I think the two strengths are exact opposites, head to head: Dodger pitching against Houston offense.”

 

McRoy on the Dodgers’ performance lately:

“They’re playing good ball right now. When you come out and you’ve got the pitching staff and the rotation that you have there, that helps you out in a series. You pitch your studs two games. That’ll help. … They’ve got bats in the lineup that are streaky. If you look at (Yasiel) Puig, he’s always been a streaky hitter.”

 

PREDICTIONS:

Leggett: Dodgers in six games

Boyd: Dogers in seven

McRoy: Astros in six