Baseball Game Preview: Altoona Mountain Lions vs. Cumberland Valley Eagles

The Altoona Mountain Lions will square off against the Cumberland Valley Eagles at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Altoona came up short against Mifflin County and fell 6-2. The contest marked the Mountain Lions' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.

Altoona saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Noah Staines, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Aaron Smearman also deserves some recognition as he hit his first triple of the season.

Meanwhile, Cumberland Valley got the win against Mechanicsburg on Tuesday by a conclusive 11-1. The Eagles have beaten the Wildcats the last five times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Wildcats has come to flipping the script.

Kaden Schoenly made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out eight batters over 4.1 innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in April of 2024. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs while going 2-for-3.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Caden Lloyd, who scored a run while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Siddh Patel was another key player, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.

Cumberland Valley's win was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-1. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they've averaged 7.2 runs this season. As for Altoona, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-2.

Altoona beat Cumberland Valley 5-2 in their previous matchup back in May of 2024. Will the Mountain Lions repeat their success, or do the Eagles have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.