Baseball Preview: Palisades Pirates vs. Saucon Valley Panthers
Palisades is 2-8 against Saucon Valley since May of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Palisades Pirates will look to defend their home field against the Saucon Valley Panthers at 4:00 p.m. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Palisades scored the most runs they've had all season to find success on Thursday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 7-6 victory over Nativity BVM. That's two games straight that Palisades has won by just one run.
Mitchell Hamilton tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run over 6.2 innings pitched.
On the hitting side, Palisades let Jacob Teachan and Kirsch Kyle loose on the outfield. Teachan got on base in five of his six plate appearances with a home run, three RBI, and a stolen base, while Kyle went 3-for-6 with a home run and three runs. Ted Musselman was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 4-for-6.
Meanwhile, Saucon Valley put their dominant pitchers on display in the team's third consecutive shutout on Monday. They never let Pen Argyl onto the board and left with a 6-0 win.
Cole Hubert made a splash no matter where he played. He didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 11 over 5.1 innings pitched. Hubert has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than nine strikeouts every time he's pitched this season. Hubert was also big at the plate, scoring a run while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
In other batting news, Thomas Ubriaco was incredible, scoring a run and stealing two bases while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Ray Matey, who scored a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
The victory got Palisades back to even at 2-2. As for Saucon Valley, their win bumped their record up to 3-0.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Palisades has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Saucon Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 14. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Palisades came up short against Saucon Valley when the teams last played back in May of 2023, falling 5-1. Thankfully for Palisades, Rocky Viscito (who didn't allow a single earned run while striking out seven over five innings pitched) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
