Baseball Recap: Gage Laughner leads Central Mountain to victory over Shikellamy

By Team Reports May 4, 2024, 10:16am

Baseball Recap: Central Mountain Wildcats vs. Shikellamy Braves

Central Mountain won against Jersey Shore last Wednesday with seven runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Friday. The Central Mountain Wildcats walked away with a 7-2 victory over the Shikellamy Braves. The win was familiar territory for Central Mountain who now have three in a row.

Central Mountain got a great performance from Gage Laughner as he struck out nine batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits.

At the plate, Blake Walker was excellent, going 2-for-3 with a triple, two RBI, and a run. Another player making a difference was Elek Fravel, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-2.

On Shikellamy's side, Mark Culp put in work while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out six over six innings pitched. Culp has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive pitching appearances. Culp was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.

In other batting news, Kayden McClusky was cooking despite his team's loss, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with a triple, a run, and an RBI.

Even though they lost, Shikellamy didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with six strikeouts. This was only their tenth loss (out of 12 games) when they post five or more strikeouts.

Central Mountain's victory bumped their record up to 12-3. As for Shikellamy, they are on a seven-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 2-13.

Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Central Mountain will take on Williamsport at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. As for Shikellamy, they will head out on the road to square off against North Schuylkill at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps