The Wallkill Panthers will take on the Rondout Valley Ganders at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday. Wallkill is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.9 runs per game this season.
Wallkill's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. Everything went their way against Saugerties as they made off with a 15-0 victory. The win continues a trend for the Panthers in their matchups with the Sawyers: they've now won nine in a row.
Ryan Mayer
Ryan Mayer was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out six over five innings pitched. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Wallkill is undefeated when he allows at most one earned run, but 1-4 otherwise. Mayer was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with four RBI, two runs, and one triple.
In other batting news, Mason Franklin was a standout: he went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and three RBI. That's the most runs he has posted since back in May of 2024. Another player making a difference was Zach Kantor, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with three stolen bases and three runs.
Wallkill was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .407. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in four consecutive matches.
New Paltz hit Rondout Valley with a four-run fourth inning on Monday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Ganders lost 9-2 to the Huguenots. The Ganders have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Jackson Barcone was cooking despite his team's loss, going a perfect 2-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
Wallkill pushed their record up to 4-4 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Rondout Valley, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-5.
Wallkill came out on top in a nail-biter against Rondout Valley in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, sneaking past 5-3. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Ganders have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
