Baseball Game Preview: West Branch Warriors vs. Juniata Valley Hornets

The West Branch Warriors will venture away from home to challenge the Juniata Valley Hornets at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. West Branch is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.9 runs per game this season.

West Branch had to skate by with only a two-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the nine-run drubbing they dealt Curwensville on Thursday. The Warriors blew past the Golden Tide 18-9. The Warriors haven't had any issues with the Golden Tide recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive win against them.

Justin Esposti was a standout: he got on base in four of his five plate appearances with three RBI and two runs. That's the most runs he has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Kaleb Warren-Kio, who got on base in three of his five plate appearances with three runs and one RBI.

West Branch always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .596. They are a perfect 7-0 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.

Meanwhile, Juniata Valley was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They fell 5-1 to Moshannon Valley.

Juniata Valley saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ethan Scalia, who went 2-for-3 with one run.

Juniata Valley's loss dropped their record down to 5-5. As for West Branch, their victory bumped their record up to 10-5.

West Branch beat Juniata Valley 8-3 in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Do the Warriors have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Hornets turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.