Softball Game Preview: Penn Manor Comets vs. Hershey Trojans

The Penn Manor Comets will take on the Hershey Trojans at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Penn Manor is coming into the matchup on a three-game losing streak.

Penn Manor is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 16 runs on Thursday, they were much more limited against New Oxford on Tuesday. They fell 4-1 to the Colonials. That's two games in a row now that the Comets have lost by exactly three runs.

Penn Manor saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Macy Zohn, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with one stolen base.

Meanwhile, Hershey got the win against West York Area on Wednesday by a conclusive 10-2. Considering the Trojans have won 11 games by more than six runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

Maddie Bowe made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, tossing seven innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off six hits. She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 19 consecutive appearances. She was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with four RBI and two doubles. That's the most hits she has posted since back in April.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on McKinley Ebert, who went 3-for-4 with one home run, four runs, and three RBI. Those four runs gave her a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Sarah Young, who went 1-for-4 with one home run and two RBI.

Hershey was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .400. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .320 or higher in ten consecutive contests.

Hershey pushed their record up to 15-7 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.2 runs over those games. As for Penn Manor, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-15.