Baseball Game Preview: Averill Park Warriors vs. Bethlehem Central Eagles

The Averill Park Warriors will head out to take on the Bethlehem Central Eagles at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday. Averill Park is coming into the contest hot, having won their last three games.

Averill Park will bounce into Thursday's game after beating Columbia, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. The Warriors had just enough and edged out the Blue Devils 4-2.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Bethlehem Central). Everything went their way against Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake on Wednesday as they made off with a 13-5 win. The Eagles not only won on Wednesday, but they posted their biggest win since May 6, 2024 (when they won 16-4).

Owen Turner was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He tossed four innings while giving up three earned runs off three hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in three consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with two runs and one double. Those two runs gave him a new career-high.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Oliver Hosang, who went 3-for-4 with three runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. Those two RBI gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Paul Lurie, who went 1-for-4 with three RBI, one run, and one double.

Bethlehem Central was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .389. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.

Averill Park pushed their record up to 7-5-1 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.3 runs over those games. As for Bethlehem Central, their record is now 4-9.