Baseball Game Preview: National Trail Blazers vs. Twin Valley South Panthers

The National Trail Blazers will venture away from home to square off against the Twin Valley South Panthers at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

National Trail fought the good fight in their extra-innings contest against Tri-County North on Saturday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Panthers by a score of 4-3. The Blazers' loss signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.

Mason Leal was huge no matter where he played even without the win. He struck out 16 batters over 9.1 innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off seven hits. Leal was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in five of his six plate appearances. He also hit a double, marking his first of the season.

In other batting news, Braylon Coffey made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases, one double, and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Mason Cordle, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-5.

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Twin Valley South duked it out with Ansonia on Tuesday. The Panthers came out on top in a nail-biter against the Tigers, sneaking past 4-2. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Panthers have posted since May 2, 2024.

National Trail's defeat dropped their record down to 3-5. As for Twin Valley South, their win was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-2 and their overall record up to 3-6.

National Trail skirted past Twin Valley South 5-3 when the teams last played back in April of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Blazers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.