Baseball Recap: Hazleton Area Comes Up Short at Home Against North Penn

Hazleton Area unfortunately couldn't capitalize on their home-field advantage in their season opener. They fell just short of the North Penn Knights by a score of 8-7 on Saturday. The defeat continues a trend for the Cougars in their meetings with the Knights: they've now lost six in a row.

Dominic Marino was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing 3.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Marino was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-5 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI.

In other batting news, Nick Ledger was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-4 with one home run and two RBI. Shea Higgins was another key player, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and one double.

The win was the third in a row for North Penn, bringing their record up to 3-0.

Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Hazleton Area will take on Liberty at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. As for North Penn, they will face off against Spring-Ford at 4:00 p.m. on Monday.