The Cowan Blackhawks are taking a road trip to challenge the Union City Indians at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Cowan saw some tournament action on Wednesday. They lost 9-1 to Wes-Del. The Blackhawks haven't had much luck with the Warriors recently, as the team has come up short the last three times they've met.
Meanwhile, Union City got the win against National Trail on Wednesday by a conclusive 9-2. Considering the Indians have won five matchups by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Union City got a great performance from Kierra Thacker as she struck out eight batters over five innings while giving up just two earned runs off one hit. With that strong performance, Thacker is now averaging an impressive 5.2 strikeouts per game.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Oaklee Reichard, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and one triple. That triple was her first of the season. The team also got some help courtesy of Lillian Zigler, who got on base in three of her four plate appearances with two runs.
Union City always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .525. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.
Union City is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 5-7 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.5 runs on average over those games. As for Cowan, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-9.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Cowan hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.4 home runs per game. However, it's not like Union City struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.5 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Cowan took their win against Union City in their previous matchup back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 15-3 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Blackhawks since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
