Baseball Game Preview: Geneva Panthers vs. Newark Reds

The Geneva Panthers will square off against the Newark Reds at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Geneva fell victim to Canandaigua Academy and their airtight pitching crew on Wednesday. They came up short against the Braves, falling 11-0. The Panthers have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Geneva saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Joe Salone, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base.

Meanwhile, after only one run in their last matchup, Newark made sure to put some runs up on the board against Penn Yan Academy on Tuesday. The Reds put the hurt on the Mustangs with a sharp 14-6 victory. The result was nothing new for the Reds, who have now won five contests by six runs or more so far this season.

Devin Littlefield was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He struck out nine batters over four innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits (and only one walk). Those nine strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going 1-for-4 with three stolen bases, two runs, and one double. Newark is 2-1 when Littlefield posts two or more runs, but 6-7 otherwise.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Nolan Benedict, who went 2-for-3 with three stolen bases, three runs, and two RBI. He is becoming a predictor of Newark's success: when he posts at least two stolen bases the team is 4-1 (and 4-7 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Jayce Baker, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with three stolen bases and two runs.

Geneva's loss dropped their record down to 5-11. As for Newark, the win got them back to even at 8-8.