Baseball Game Preview: Towanda Black Knights vs. Mansfield Tigers

The Towanda Black Knights will head out to take on the Mansfield Tigers at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Towanda will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.

Towanda will bounce into Tuesday's matchup after beating Notre Dame, who they had gone 0-4 against in their four prior meetings. The Black Knights blew past the Crusaders 11-1 on Saturday. Considering the Black Knights have won four games by more than eight runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.

Jack Tavani

Base on Balls Against

04/13/25 vs Athens	4
03/20/25 vs Wyalusing Valley	3
04/22/25 vs South Williamsport	2
04/03/25 vs Canton	1
03/29/25 @ Elk Lake	1
+ 1 more games

Jack Tavani spent all six innings played on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered a run (which was unearned) on two hits. He also tossed no walks, which is notable because Towanda is 4-1 when he allows at most one walk, but 3-4 otherwise.

At the plate, Towanda let Wil Shrawder and Rylee Sluyter run wild. Shrawder went 1-for-2 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI, while Sluyter got on base in two of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases and two runs. That's the most stolen bases Shrawder has posted since back in May of 2024. Gage Evans also deserves some recognition as he got his first hit of the season.

Meanwhile, Thursday just wasn't the day for Mansfield's offense. They came up short against Wellsboro on Thursday, falling 10-0. The pitching woes were uncharacteristic for the Tigers, who until this contest were averaging 3.55 runs allowed.

Mansfield saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jason Harer, who went 1-for-2 with one double.

Towanda pushed their record up to 7-5 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.3 runs over those games. As for Mansfield, their defeat ended a seven-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 9-2.

Towanda might still be hurting after the 10-1 loss they got from Mansfield when the teams last played back in March. Can the Black Knights avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.