Baseball Game Preview: Norristown Eagles vs. Strath Haven Panthers

The Norristown Eagles will head out to face off against the Strath Haven Panthers at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday. Neither of those teams managed to put together many runs in their previous contests, so the offenses might be a little more motivated than usual.

Norristown came into their game on Wednesday off a hard-fought close win, but unfortunately suffered a serious change of fortune. They lost 8-2 to Pope John Paul II. The Eagles have struggled against Pope John Paul II recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive lost meeting.

Norristown saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was John Angelo Salamone, who went 2-for-3 with one run and one double.

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Strath Haven faced off against Penncrest on Wednesday. The Panthers came out on top in a nail-biter against the Lions, sneaking past 2-1. The Panthers haven't had any issues with the Lions recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.

Rob Mattai spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on one hit and racked up 13 Ks. He has become a key player for Strath Haven: the team is undefeated when he allows at most one earned run, but 3-5 otherwise.

On the hitting side, Ben Milligan was excellent, going 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and two runs. That's the most hits he has posted since back in May of 2024.

Strath Haven pushed their record up to 7-5 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Norristown, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-14.