The Rondout Valley Ganders are taking a road trip to square off against the Wallkill Panthers at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday.
New Paltz hit Rondout Valley with a four-run fourth inning on Monday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Ganders lost 9-2 to the Huguenots. The Ganders have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Jackson Barcone made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went a perfect 2-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Wallkill). Their pitcher stepped up to hand Saugerties a 15-0 shutout on Thursday. With that win, the Panthers brought their scoring average up to 6.9 runs per game.
Ryan Mayer was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out six over five innings pitched. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Wallkill is undefeated when he allows at most one earned run, but 1-4 otherwise. Mayer was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with four RBI, two runs, and one triple.
In other batting news, Mason Franklin was a standout: he went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and three RBI. That's the most hits he has posted since back in May of 2024. Zach Kantor was another key player, going a perfect 2-for-2 with three stolen bases and three runs.
Wallkill was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .407. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in four consecutive games.
Rondout Valley's loss dropped their record down to 3-5. As for Wallkill, the victory got them back to even at 4-4.
Rondout Valley couldn't quite finish off Wallkill when the teams last played back in April of 2024 and fell 5-3. Can the Ganders avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
