The Ellwood City Wolverine are taking a road trip to challenge the Western Beaver Golden Beavers at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Ellwood City sitting on five straight wins and Western Beaver on six.
Ellwood City hadn't beaten Mohawk Area on the road since May 2, 2022 but that history sure didn't bother them on Tuesday. The Wolverine came out on top in a nail-biter against the Warriors, sneaking past 8-7. That's two games straight that the Wolverine have won by just one run.
Ellwood City let Jordan Keller and Samuel Landis run wild. Keller went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one double, while Landis got on base in all three of his plate appearances with two RBI, one run, and one double. Jacob Biskup was another key player, going 1-for-3 with two runs and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Western Beaver got themselves on the board against Winchester Thurston on Wednesday, but Winchester Thurston never followed suit. They were the clear victors by an 8-0 margin over Winchester Thurston. The Golden Beavers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven games by eight runs or more this season.
Christian Stefankis was a major factor no matter where he played. He kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out nine over seven innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one hit in five consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one RBI.
In other batting news, Western Beaver got a big performance out of Sawyer Chaffee, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run. August Lichtner also deserves some recognition as he launched his first home run of the season.
Western Beaver pushed their record up to 12-4 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.7 runs over those games. As for Ellwood City, their record is now 13-4.
Ellwood City was able to grind out a solid victory over Western Beaver in their previous matchup back in April of 2023, winning 15-10. Will the Wolverine repeat their success, or do the Golden Beavers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
