Baseball Recap: Metea Valley Comes Up Short

Metea Valley extended their losing streak to six on Tuesday, dropping their season record down to 9-10 in the process. They took a 12-7 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Neuqua Valley Wildcats. The home team had taken home the W every time these teams have met since April 22, 2024, but that streak is no more.

Anthony Cassano was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out six batters over 4.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits. That's the fewest earned runs he has allowed over his last four matches.

Connor Lavery

Runs

04/10/25 vs Clemente	4
03/26/25 vs Benet Academy	3
03/24/25 @ Elgin	3
04/22/25 vs Neuqua Valley	2
04/11/25 @ Wheaton North	2
+ 5 more games

On the hitting side, Connor Lavery made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two runs, one stolen base, and one double. He is becoming a predictor of Metea Valley's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 5-2 (and 4-8 when he doesn't). Matthew Reilly was another key player, going 1-for-5 with one home run and two RBI.

As for Neuqua Valley, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 5-8-1 record this season. With that victory, they brought their scoring average up to 6.3 runs per game.

On Neuqua Valley's side, they let Andy Barkley and Mike Langan run wild. Barkley got on base in all five of his plate appearances with two runs, one triple, and two RBI, while Langan got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two runs, one triple, and two RBI. That triple was Barkley's first of the season. The team also got some help courtesy of Kiet Truong, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two runs and two RBI.

While Metea Valley had to take the loss, they won't have to wait long to give it another shot: the pair's next game is a rematch scheduled at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.