The Garfield Heights Bulldogs will head out on the road to take on the Euclid Panthers at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Garfield Heights has given up an average of 13.6 runs per game this season, but Thursday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
Garfield Heights is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to ten runs on Wednesday, they were much more limited against Maple Heights on Monday. They lost 20-1 to the Mustangs. The Bulldogs have struggled against the Mustangs recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive lost meeting.
Garfield Heights saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was D'COREY MARTIN, who went 1-for-2 with one double and one RBI.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Euclid, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Thursday. They blew past Cleveland Central Catholic 14-2 on Tuesday. The high-scoring performance was a welcome turnaround for the Panthers' hitters, who had struggled in the games prior.
Mike Kalinowski was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single hit and allowing only two earned runs while striking out ten over four innings pitched. Those ten strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, and one double. That double was his first of the season.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Malik Abdul-Wali, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, three stolen bases, and four runs. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in RBI (two). Jeanpaul Hernandez-Lamoureaux was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and one run.
Euclid was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .375. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Cleveland Central Catholic only posted a batting average of .000.
Garfield Heights' loss dropped their record down to 3-7. As for Euclid, their victory ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 5-11.
Garfield Heights took their win against Euclid when the teams last played back in April of 2022 by a conclusive 13-6 score. Will the Bulldogs repeat their success, or do the Panthers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
