The Whitehall Zephyrs will venture away from home to take on the Emmaus Hornets at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Whitehall comes in on six and Emmaus on three.
On Tuesday, Whitehall was able to grind out a solid win over Allentown Central Catholic, taking the game 6-1.
Tyler Reichenbach was excellent, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI and one run. That's the most RBI he has posted since April 1st. The team also got some help courtesy of Henry Shultz, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run.
Emmaus came out on top against Louis E. Dieruff on Tuesday thanks in part to the team's impressive five-run fifth inning. The Hornets never let the Huskies get on the board and left with a 10-0 victory.
Robert Barnes made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out seven over five innings pitched. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Emmaus is 6-3 when he allows at most two earned runs, but 4-5 otherwise. Barnes was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and one RBI.
In other batting news, Tanner Karwacki and Josh Diaz did most of the damage at the plate: Karwacki went 2-for-3 with one triple, two RBI, and one run, while Diaz went 2-for-3 with two triples, one run, and one RBI. Zach Ehritz also deserves some recognition as he hit his first triple of the season.
Emmaus hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Louis E. Dieruff struck out seven times.
Whitehall's win was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 13-4. Those road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.2 runs on average over those games. As for Emmaus, their record now sits at 10-8.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Whitehall has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Emmaus struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 8.1 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Whitehall skirted past Emmaus 6-5 in their previous matchup last Monday. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Zephyrs since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
