Baseball Preview: Pine-Richland Rams vs. Central Catholic Vikings
After both having extra time off, the Pine-Richland Rams and the Central Catholic Vikings will dust off their jerseys to challenge one another on Monday. The last three games Pine-Richland has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
Pine-Richland took a loss when they played away from home back in April, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on May 2nd. They had just enough and edged North Allegheny out 9-8.
Tristan Farrar looked comfortable as he pitched 2.1 innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Peyton Ford was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 3-for-5. Another player making a difference was Anthony Mengine, who scored three runs while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Central Catholic unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak two weeks ago. They fell 7-4 to Shaler Area.
Gavin Kelly was cooking despite his team's loss, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with a home run, two runs, and a double. The team also got some help courtesy of Andres Hurkmans, who went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
Pine-Richland pushed their record up to 16-4 with that victory, which was their seventh straight at home. As for Central Catholic, their loss dropped their record down to 10-10.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Pine-Richland has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Central Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.7. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Pine-Richland came out on top in a nail-biter against Central Catholic when the teams last played back in April of 2022, sneaking past 4-2. Will Pine-Richland repeat their success, or does Central Catholic have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
