Baseball Preview: Tamaqua Blue Raiders vs. Pottsville Crimson Tide
After four games on the road, Tamaqua is heading back home. They will take on the Pottsville Crimson Tide at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Tamaqua is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 6.9 runs per game this season.
On Monday, it was a hard-fought game, but Tamaqua had to settle for an 8-7 loss against Blue Mountain.
Gavan Hess was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out seven batters over six innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off five hits.
On the hitting side, Tamaqua saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Wyatt Steigerwalt, who scored three runs and stole four bases while going 2-for-4. Steigerwalt has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up a single earned run in three consecutive pitching appearances.
Meanwhile, Pottsville was able to grind out a solid win over Jim Thorpe on Monday, taking the game 10-5. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Pottsville.
Luke Schane was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits over six innings pitched. Schane was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.
In other batting news, Luke Keitsock and Aidan Bierman did most of the damage at the plate: Keitsock went 2-for-4 with a triple, a stolen base, and two RBI, while Bierman scored two runs and stole three bases while going 2-for-3. Jacob Filiac was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 1-for-3.
Tamaqua's defeat dropped their record down to 6-2. As for Pottsville, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 4-6 record this season.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Tuesday as neither team is afraid to steal. Tamaqua has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.8 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Pottsville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 2.9. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Tamaqua skirted past Pottsville 3-2 in their previous matchup back in March. Does Tamaqua have another victory up their sleeve, or will Pottsville turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
