The Hopewell Valley Central Bulldogs will challenge the Lawrence Cardinals at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Hopewell Valley Central will roll into the matchup after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up one run on Friday, then bounced right back against Trenton Central on Monday. The Bulldogs were the clear victors by a 12-4 margin over the Tornadoes. The Bulldogs' hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Jaykob Shin was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, keeping things locked down with no earned runs or hits over four innings pitched. Shin was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in all five of his plate appearances.
In other batting news, Blake Echternacht was incredible, scoring three runs while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Chase Garrow was another key player, getting on base in four of his five plate appearances with three RBI.
Hopewell Valley Central always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .533. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, it may have taken eight innings to finish the job, but Lawrence ultimately got the result they hoped for on Wednesday. They won by a run and slipped past Hamilton 6-5. Six seems to be a good number for the Cardinals as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Like Hopewell Valley Central, Lawrence also got a great game from a two-way player: Aiden Poot. Throwing, Poot struck out eight batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off seven hits (and not a single walk). Meanwhile, Aiden Crowley struck out eight batters over 2.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. At the plate, Poot scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances, while Crowley went 2-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and one RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Seneca Sumners, who scored three runs and stole two bases while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
The victory (which was Lawrence's third in a row) raised their record to 3-2. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Hopewell Valley Central, their victory (their first of the season) made their record 1-2-1.
Hopewell Valley Central couldn't quite get it done against Lawrence in their previous meeting back in May of 2024 as they fell 15-11. Can the Bulldogs avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
