Baseball Preview: Franklin Knights vs. Oil City Oilers
The Franklin Knights will be playing at home against the Oil City Oilers at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the pair posted some lofty run totals in their previous games.
Franklin is headed into the match fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Cranberry Area a 10-0 shutout on Friday. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest win of the season.
Evan Turner made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out eight over four innings pitched. Turner was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Alex Wible, who went 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBI. Another player making a difference was Drew Kockler, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Oil City sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 10-8 victory over Sharon on Friday. With that win, Oil City brought their scoring average up to 6.2 runs per game.
Like Franklin, Oil City also got a great game from a two-way player: Charlie Motter. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Motter was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with a home run, two runs, and two RBI.
In other batting news, Casey Rybak was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-4. Justen Dunkle was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Franklin's victory bumped their record up to 3-4. As for Oil City, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a massive bump to their 4-4 record this season.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Monday as neither team is afraid to steal. Franklin has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 2.9 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Oil City struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.5. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Franklin suffered a grim 13-5 defeat to Oil City in their previous meeting back in May of 2023. Can Franklin avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
