The Tunkhannock Tigers will venture away from home to challenge the Pittston Patriots at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Tunkhannock will be looking to extend their current six-game winning streak.
It was a proper cat-fight when Tunkhannock duked it out with Hazleton Area on Wednesday. The Tigers blew past the Cougars 15-0. Considering the Tigers have won ten contests by more than six runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Erin Van Ness was incredible, going a perfect 4-for-4 with one home run, six RBI, and three runs. That's the most hits she has posted since back in April of 2024. Taryn Newswanger was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs.
Tunkhannock always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .633. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
The scorekeeper got an easy start on Wednesday as neither Pittston nor Dallas made it on the board until the fifth inning. The Patriots fell just short of the Mountaineers by a score of 3-2. The Patriots' loss signaled the end of their four-game winning streak.
Samantha Herbert spent all 9.1 innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned runs on nine hits and racked up eight Ks. Those eight strikeouts set a new season-high mark for her.
On the hitting side, Pittston saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Gabby Gorzkowski, who went 2-for-4 with two runs.
Tunkhannock pushed their record up to 13-1 with the win, which was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.6 runs on average over those games. As for Pittston, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-5.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Tunkhannock hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Pittston struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.8 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Tunkhannock took their win against Pittston in their previous matchup back in April by a conclusive 12-2 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Tigers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
