When defending a weak position there are "lies, damn lies and statistics". Agree that who beat who doesn't have much meaning, but NR experienced some of the base running and defensive mistakes against Hickory (and also Kings Fork and Oscar Smith that they were able to overcome) that has plagued them historically. Western Branch is always a fundamentally sound team and top to bottom is probably the more talented of the two this year. If NR can avoid the untimely mental errors that WB doesn't seem to make then they can absolutely win a close low scoring game. Otherwise, a strong hitting team like WB will likely make them pay for those breakdowns the way Hickory was able to do last week.
Being ranked in a couple different national polls certainly speaks to the talent that WB has on their roster. I do think the difference between the two (NR & WB) this season is not so much in the quality of the players, but WB has a little more depth and a lot more experience. The core of that WB group are now juniors and seniors, and many of them have been playing varsity baseball since their freshman year. (and playing together since shetland ball)
NR has plenty of talent, but nearly half of the lineup is in the 9th or 10th grade and was playing JV ball last season. (which also explains some of the mental mistakes and baserunning). Nearly all of which have been made by the younger, less experienced group.
Defensively, NR has been very good up the middle, up to this point.