The Newmarket Mules will square off against the Mascenic Regional Vikings at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Newmarket sitting on five straight wins and Mascenic Regional on three.
While Newmarket's victory against Franklin wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Mules had just enough and edged out the Tornadoes 3-2 on Friday. The three-run effort marked the Mules' lowest-scoring game of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
Emma Surina made a splash while hitting and pitching. She pitched three innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits. Surina was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and two runs. Those stolen bases were her first of the season.
Surina wasn't the only one making solid contact as three players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Lily Thompson, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Mascenic Regional made easy work of Wilton-Lyndeborough on Friday and carried off an 18-5 win. Considering the Vikings have won four contests by more than 11 runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Kiahna Farrey was incredible, getting on base in all four of her plate appearances with four runs, two stolen bases, and two RBI. She has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times she's played. Another player making a difference was Val Stenerson, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run.
Mascenic Regional was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .375. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .360 or higher in three consecutive matches.
Newmarket pushed their record up to 5-0 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.9 runs on average over those games. As for Mascenic Regional, their victory bumped their record up to 4-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Newmarket has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 10 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Mascenic Regional struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Newmarket couldn't quite finish off Mascenic Regional when the teams last played back in May of 2024 and fell 2-0. Can the Mules avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
