Baseball Game Preview: Ketcham Storm vs. Putnam Valley Tigers

The Ketcham Storm will challenge the Putnam Valley Tigers at 4:45 p.m. on Thursday. Ketcham will be looking to extend their current seven-game winning streak.

Ketcham is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New York's top teams: North Rockland, who was ranked fourth at the time (Ketcham was ranked second). The Storm sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 2-1 win over the Raiders on Wednesday. Those two runs were actually the fewest the Storm have put up all season, but given the result they're probably not too concerned.

John Esposito spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered a run (which was unearned) on five hits.

On the hitting side, Ketcham saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Nick Mondesando, who went 2-for-4 with one run and one double.

Meanwhile, Putnam Valley didn't have quite enough to beat Clarkstown South on Wednesday and fell 2-1. The Tigers have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Dominic Benedetto was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 11 over 6.1 innings pitched. Furthermore, he didn't allow a single earned run, the first time he has blanked an opponent since back in April.

Ketcham's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 13-2. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for Putnam Valley, their loss dropped their record down to 12-3.

Thursday's contest will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Ketcham hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .342. However, it's not like Putnam Valley struggles in that department as they've averaged .351. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.