Baseball Game Preview: Southern Columbia Area Tigers vs. Pine Grove Cardinals

The Southern Columbia Area Tigers will be defending their home field for the first time this season when they go up against the Pine Grove Cardinals at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Last Friday, Southern Columbia Area made easy work of Line Mountain and carried off an 18-1 win. The victory continues a trend for the Tigers in their matchups with the Eagles: they've now won eight in a row.

Caden Hopper and Levi Everitt made a big impact no matter where they played. Throwing, Hopper pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Everitt pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Those zero hits allowed gave Hopper a new career-low. At the plate, Hopper scored two runs while going 2-for-2, while Everitt scored three runs while going 1-for-3. Those three runs gave Everitt a new career-high.

In other pitching news, Guy Longenberger looked comfortable as he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.

Back at the plate, Southern Columbia Area got a massive performance out of Ethan Makowski, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI, one triple, and one run. That's the most RBI Makowski has posted since back in April of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Andrew Yost, who scored three runs while going 2-for-3.

Meanwhile, Pine Grove was able to grind out a solid win over Lake-Lehman on Saturday, taking the game 6-3.

Pine Grove's victory was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Jacob Hatter, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Hatter is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he's played dating back to last season. Another was Ian Brown, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI.

Pine Grove's first win this season bumped their record up to 1-1-1. As for Southern Columbia Area, their victory bumped their record up to 2-0.