Baseball Game Preview: Valley View Cougars vs. Scranton Knights

The Valley View Cougars will face off against the Scranton Knights at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Valley View is headed into the match having just suffered their biggest loss since March 25th on Monday. They came up short against Abington Heights, falling 8-1. The defeat continues a trend for the Cougars in their meetings with the Comets: they've now lost three in a row.

Meanwhile, Scranton hadn't done well against Wallenpaupack Area recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. The Knights sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-2 win over the Buckhorns.

Thor Kelly made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing 6.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits. He is becoming a predictor of Scranton's success: when he allows at most two earned runs the team is 4-1 (and 5-6 when he doesn't). Kelly was also solid in the batter's box, going a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double.

Kelly wasn't the only one making solid contact as three players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Connor Thomas, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base and one run. That stolen base marked the first that Thomas has snagged this season.

Scranton has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 9-7 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 4.0 runs on average over those games. As for Valley View, their loss dropped their record down to 4-10.

Valley View came up short against Scranton in their previous matchup on April 7th, falling 5-1. Will the Cougars have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.