The St. John Fighting Herald will take on the Pymatuning Valley Lakers at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
St. John is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They put the hurt on Lakeside with a sharp 16-10 victory on Thursday. The Fighting Herald not only won on Thursday, but they posted their biggest win since May 6, 2024 (when they won 13-3).
Isabelle Holler made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out nine batters over five innings while giving up four earned (and one unearned) runs off five hits. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than nine strikeouts in three consecutive appearances. She was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-5 with two stolen bases, three RBI, and two runs. That's the most RBI she has posted since back in April of 2024.

Nadia Lagoa
04/24/25 @ Lakeside | 3 |
04/23/25 @ Badger | 2 |
05/06/24 vs McKinley | 2 |
04/16/25 @ Grand Valley | 1 |
04/14/25 vs Maplewood | 1 |
In other batting news, Nadia Lagoa was a standout: she went 2-for-5 with three RBI, two runs, and one triple. Those three RBI gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Caitlyn Carney, who went 3-for-6 with two runs, two RBI, and one double.
St. John was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .465. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Pymatuning Valley got the win against Lordstown on Wednesday by a conclusive 20-3. The result was nothing new for the Lakers, who have now won seven matchups by six runs or more so far this season.
Like St. John, Pymatuning Valley also got a great game from a two-way player: Mackenzie Kribbs. She struck out six batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits. Kribbs was also big at the plate, going 1-for-4 with two stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI.
In other batting news, Pymatuning Valley got a massive performance out of McKenna Jordan, who got on base in all five of her plate appearances with three stolen bases, three runs, and three RBI. Hannah Young was another key player, going a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs, four RBI, and one stolen base.
The win made it two in a row for Pymatuning Valley and bumps their season record up to 7-2. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered a grand total of 4 runs in those games. As for St. John, the win got them back to even at 4-4.
St. John suffered a grim 11-1 defeat to Pymatuning Valley in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. Can the Fighting Herald avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.