Baseball Preview: Hazleton Area Cougars vs. Wilkes-Barre Wolfpack
Hazleton Area is 9-0 against Wilkes-Barre since April of 2021, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Hazleton Area Cougars are on the road again to play the Wilkes-Barre Wolfpack at 4:30 p.m. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Wednesday, Hazleton Area sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-3 win over Dallas.
Meanwhile, Wilkes-Barre has not done well against Pittston recently (they were 0-7 in their previous seven matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. Wilkes-Barre had just enough and edged Pittston out 5-3. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Wilkes-Barre.
James Bottger made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out seven batters over 4.2 innings while giving up three earned runs off only one hit. Bottger has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in seven consecutive pitching appearances. Bottger was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 1-for-2.
In other batting news, Omar Jerez was excellent, going 1-for-2 with three RBI and a triple. Another player making a difference was Koleton Davies, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
Hazleton Area pushed their record up to 11-4 with that victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. As for Wilkes-Barre, their win bumped their record up to 4-12.
Everything went Hazleton Area's way against Wilkes-Barre in their previous matchup two weeks ago as Hazleton Area made off with a 10-0 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Hazleton Area since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
