Baseball Game Preview: Austintown-Fitch Falcons vs. Howland Tigers

The Austintown-Fitch Falcons will head out on the road to square off against the Howland Tigers at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Austintown-Fitch will be strutting in after a win while Howland will be coming in after a loss.

Austintown-Fitch is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They were the clear victors by a 16-6 margin over Lakeview on Monday. The Falcons not only won on Monday, but they posted their biggest win since April 29, 2024 (when they won 13-1).

The home team had won the previous three meetings between Howland and Harding, and Harding kept the tradition alive. The Tigers fell just short of the Raiders by a score of 4-3 on Tuesday.

Steven Bubon was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out seven batters over five innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off seven hits. He has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Luca Fronzaglio and Brayden Kovarik did some serious damage despite the final result: Fronzaglio went 3-for-4 with two doubles, one run, and one RBI, while Kovarik went a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases and one double. Fronzaglio is becoming a predictor of Howland's success: when he posts at least three hits the team is 2-1 (and 6-7 when he doesn't). The team also got some help courtesy of Aidan Anders, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one run.

Austintown-Fitch is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 6-11 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.3 runs on average over those games. As for Howland, their defeat ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 8-8.

Austintown-Fitch might still be hurting after the 17-4 loss they got from Howland in their previous meeting back in March. Can the Falcons avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.