Baseball Preview: Mid Valley Spartans vs. Riverside Vikings
Mid Valley is 1-8-1 against Riverside since April of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Wednesday. The Mid Valley Spartans will head out on the road to challenge the Riverside Vikings at 4:30 p.m. Mid Valley is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.4 runs per game this season.
On Tuesday, Mid Valley needed a bit of extra time to put away Old Forge. They had just enough and edged the Blue Devils out 9-8. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Mid Valley.
Nick Mills and Lorenzo Hernandez made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Mills tossed an inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Hernandez tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Mills has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive pitching appearances. At bat, Mills scored two runs while going 3-for-6, while Hernandez scored a run while going 3-for-5.
In other pitching news, Cooper Lukasavage tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run over five innings pitched.
Back at the plate, Carter Musewicz was excellent, scoring a run while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Chase Eshelman was another key contributor, getting on base in three of his five plate appearances with three RBI.
Meanwhile, Riverside waltzed into their contest on Monday with six straight wins... but they left with seven. They put the hurt on the Chiefs with a sharp 10-0 win. Riverside might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won eight games by six runs or more this season.
Like Mid Valley, Riverside also got a great game from a two-way player: Nick Bohenek. On the mound, he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out nine over five innings pitched. Bohenek was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Patrick Higgins, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Jose Sosa, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 1-for-3.
Mid Valley is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 12-6 record this season. As for Riverside, their victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-3.
Wednesday's match will be a test for both team's pitchers. Mid Valley hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .341. However, it's not like Riverside struggles in that department as they've averaged .326. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Mid Valley came up short against Riverside when the teams last played back in April, falling 5-2. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Riverside's Cooper Borowski, who didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched. Now that Mid Valley knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
