Baseball Preview: Tamaqua Blue Raiders vs. Lehighton Indians
The Tamaqua Blue Raiders will head out on the road to square off against the Lehighton Indians at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
If Tamaqua beats Lehighton with seven runs on Monday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two matches with that exact score. Tamaqua walked away with a 7-3 victory over Jim Thorpe on Saturday. Winning may never get old, but Tamaqua sure is getting used to it with their third in a row.
Tamaqua got a great performance from Gavan Hess as he pitched five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off six hits.
On the hitting side, Tamaqua saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Mason Ligenza, who went 2-for-2 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs.
Meanwhile, Lehighton has not done well against Saucon Valley recently (they were 1-6 in their previous seven matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Saturday. Lehighton blew past Saucon Valley 8-1. Lehighton might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won four matchups by six runs or more this season.
Brady O'Donnell was a standout: he went 4-for-4 with three stolen bases and three RBI. He hasn't dropped below three RBI for three straight games. Aiden Rarick was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing four bases while going 1-for-3.
Tamaqua's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-2. As for Lehighton, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 10-3 record this season.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Monday as neither team is afraid to steal. Tamaqua has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.5 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Lehighton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.9. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Tamaqua came out on top in a nail-biter against Lehighton when the teams last played back in March, sneaking past 6-4. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Rarick, who scored two runs and stole three bases while going 3-for-4. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Tamaqua still be able to contain Rarick? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
