Baseball Preview: Pine Grove Cardinals vs. Lehighton Indians
Pine Grove is 8-2 against Lehighton since April of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Pine Grove Cardinals will head out on the road to challenge the Lehighton Indians at 4:30 p.m. Pine Grove is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last three games.
Pine Grove is hoping to deliver their fans another blowout on Thursday, just like they did against Jim Thorpe (and have done all season long). Pine Grove was the clear victor by a 10-2 margin over Jim Thorpe on Tuesday.
Carson Lengle made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out 13 batters over 5.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits. Lengle has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive pitching appearances. Lengle was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with four RBI and a stolen base.
In other batting news, Wyatt Snyder was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 3-for-3. Ty Drumheller was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Lehighton has not done well against North Schuylkill recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. Lehighton came out on top against North Schuylkill by a score of 8-4. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Lehighton.
Like Pine Grove, Lehighton also got a great game from a two-way player: Carter Birnbaum. He tossed an inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Birnbaum was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run.
In other batting news, Aiden Rarick was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing a base while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Brady O'Donnell, who went 1-for-4 with four RBI, a stolen base, and a run.
Pine Grove's record is now 6-3. As for Lehighton, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season.
Lehighton's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Thursday. Pine Grove has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 10.3 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Lehighton, though, as they've been averaging only 4.1. Will Pine Grove keep running through batters, or will Lehighton buck the trend?
Pine Grove skirted past Lehighton 3-2 in their previous meeting back in May of 2023. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Lehighton's Ian Rarick, who struck out six batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off four hits. Now that he won't be playing on Thursday, will it be that much easier for Pine Grove to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
