Lincolnton has gone 9-1 against West Caldwell recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Wolves will head out on the road to square off against the Warriors at 6:00 p.m. West Caldwell took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Lincolnton, who comes in off a win.
Having struggled with seven losses in a row, Lincolnton turned things around against Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy on Wednesday. They put the hurt on the Gryphons with a sharp 22-11 victory. The high-scoring performance was a welcome turnaround for the Wolves' hitters, who had struggled in the games prior.
Devin Leonard
| 04/02/25 @ Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy | 3 |
| 03/12/25 vs Ashbrook | 2 |
| 03/11/25 @ Bandys | 2 |
| 03/14/24 vs Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy | 2 |
| 03/28/25 @ Newton-Conover | 1 |
Devin Leonard and Karson Cloninger made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Leonard tossed four innings while giving up just two earned (and seven unearned) runs off four hits. Meanwhile, Cloninger pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. He is becoming a predictor of Lincolnton's success: when he allows at most one hit the team is 2-1 (and 3-10 when he doesn't). At bat, Leonard scored a run while going 2-for-5, while Cloninger went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, four RBI, and one run. The dominant performance also gave Leonard a new career-high in RBI (three).
In other pitching news, Noah Eaker looked comfortable as he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two hits in four consecutive appearances.
Back at the plate, Lincolnton got a massive performance out of Peyton Grooms, who scored two runs while going 5-for-6. Those five hits gave Grooms a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Yorye Urena, who scored four runs and stole three bases while going 2-for-5.
Lincolnton was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .436. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, West Caldwell was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their 23rd straight defeat dating back to last season. They came up short against North Wilkes, falling 16-3.
West Caldwell saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Landon Martin, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Lincolnton's record now sits at 5-11. As for West Caldwell, their loss dropped their record down to 0-16.
Lincolnton took their win against West Caldwell in their previous matchup back in March by a conclusive 10-0 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Wolves since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
