Baseball Preview: Middletown Blue Raiders vs. Camp Hill Lions
Middletown is 1-9 against Camp Hill since April of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Middletown Blue Raiders will be playing in front of their home fans against the Camp Hill Lions at 4:15 p.m. After the two teams made easy work of their previous opponents, one won't be so lucky on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Middletown got themselves on the board against Harrisburg, but Harrisburg never followed suit. They beat the Cougars by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 14-0. The win made it back-to-back victories for Middletown.
Middletown let Mason Gratkowski and JP Horestky loose on the outfield. Gratkowski went 1-for-3 with three RBI, two runs, and a triple, while Horestky scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3. Isaiah Crosson was another key contributor, going 2-for-2 with two RBI and a double.
Meanwhile, Camp Hill waltzed into their game on Tuesday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They were the clear victor by a 10-1 margin over the Spartans. That nine run margin sets a new team best for Camp Hill this season.
John Waldner tossed a big game, striking out ten batters over six innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits.
On the hitting side, Camp Hill let Jonathan Drawbaugh and Dom Tozzi loose on the outfield. Drawbaugh got on base in three of his four plate appearances with a home run, three runs, and two RBI, while Tozzi got on base in all four of his plate appearances with a triple, two RBI, and a run. The team also got some help courtesy of Noah Doi, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-2.
The win got Middletown back to even at 2-2. As for Camp Hill, they pushed their record up to 3-2 with that victory, which was their third straight at home.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Middletown has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Camp Hill struggles in that department as they've been averaging 11. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Middletown came up short against Camp Hill in their previous meeting back in May of 2023, falling 5-2. Can Middletown avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
