The Spring Grove Rockets will head out on the road to face off against the Kennard-Dale Rams at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Spring Grove's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Monday. They blew past York Suburban 12-0. The Rockets haven't had any issues with the Trojans recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive win against them.
Jozalynn Hartman was a standout: she went 3-for-4 with one home run and two RBI. London Parks was another key player, going 2-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI.
Spring Grove was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .423. They are 3-1 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Meanwhile, Kennard-Dale came tearing into Monday's contest with nine straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.9 runs), and they left with even more momentum. Everything went their way against the Bobcats as they made off with a 10-1 victory.
Taryn Ashenfelter made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only one hit while striking out 14 over seven innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts any time she's pitched this season. She was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs while going 3-for-4. That's the most hits she has posted since back in May of 2024.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Aurora Schwab, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with five RBI and one double. Those five RBI gave her a new career-high. Addie Argiro also deserves some recognition as she hit her first triple of the season.
Kennard-Dale's win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-1. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.8 runs on average over those games. As for Spring Grove, their record is now 4-9.
Spring Grove's speedy runners might be the difference in Wednesday's game. The Rockets have been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 2.8 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for Kennard-Dale, though, as they've been averaging only 0.6 stolen bases. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Spring Grove continue to outrun the ball?
Spring Grove suffered a grim 12-0 defeat to Kennard-Dale when the teams last played back in March. Can the Rockets avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
