The Colonie Central Wolfpack will face off against the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Spartans at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday. Colonie Central will be looking to extend their current eight-game winning streak.
Colonie Central is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New York's top teams: Ballston Spa, who was ranked 20th at the time (Colonie Central was ranked fourth). The Wolfpack were the clear victors by a 12-6 margin over the Scotties on Wednesday. The result was nothing new for the Wolfpack, who have now won six contests by six runs or more so far this season.
Ayva Hernandez was a standout: she got on base in all five of her plate appearances with one triple, two RBI, and one run. Those two RBI gave her a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Katie Parisi, who got on base in three of her five plate appearances with two runs, one stolen base, and one double.
Colonie Central always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .533. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake unfortunately witnessed the end of their six-game winning streak on Wednesday. They took a 4-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of Shenendehowa. The matchup marked the Spartans' lowest-scoring game so far this season.
Ava Yahoudy spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and three unearned) runs on three hits and racked up eight Ks. She has been consistent: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in seven consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Bailey Dinon made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and went 1-for-3 with one home run.
Colonie Central pushed their record up to 11-2 with the win, which was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.0 runs over those games. As for Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, their loss dropped their record down to 10-3.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Colonie Central hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.8 home runs per game. However, it's not like Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.9 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Everything went Colonie Central's way against Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake in their previous matchup back in May of 2024, as Colonie Central made off with a 9-1 win. Will the Wolfpack repeat their success, or do the Spartans have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
