The Middletown Blue Raiders will head out on the road to challenge the Boiling Springs Bubblers at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Middletown is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.8 runs per game this season.
Middletown took a loss when they played away from home on Monday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Wednesday. They walked away with a 9-5 victory over Harrisburg.
Brayden Reigle looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out nine over four innings pitched.
On the hitting side, Ryan Thear was excellent, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 1-for-4. Mason Gratkowski was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Boiling Springs fell victim to Shippensburg and their airtight pitching crew on Wednesday. They took a 5-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Greyhounds. Boiling Springs has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Boiling Springs saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Mason LaBuda, who went 1-for-4 with a stolen base.
Even though they lost, Boiling Springs didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with 14 strikeouts. That's the most strikeouts they've managed all season.
Middletown now has a winning record of 7-6. As for Boiling Springs, their defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 8-5.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Middletown has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Boiling Springs struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Middletown might still be hurting after the 9-2 loss they got from Boiling Springs when the teams last played back in May of 2023. Thankfully for Middletown, Joseph Serafin (who struck out seven batters over 4.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off two hits) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
