The Struthers Wildcats will head out on the road to challenge the Jefferson Area Falcons at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Struthers has struggled recently with six defeats in a row, while Jefferson Area will arrive with five straight wins.
On Tuesday, Struthers came up short against Girard and fell 7-4.
Struthers saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jordan Becker, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base and one run. Anthony Pastella was another, going 1-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Jefferson Area made easy work of Pymatuning Valley on Tuesday and carried off a 10-4 victory. The result was nothing new for the Falcons, who have now won seven matchups by six runs or more so far this season.
Toby Dickson was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over five innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in five consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI. He is becoming a predictor of Jefferson Area's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 6-7 when he doesn't).
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Michael Riffle, who went 2-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. He has become a key player for Jefferson Area: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 5-7 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Logan Saksa, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.
Jefferson Area kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least 11 hits in five consecutive contests.
Jefferson Area pushed their record up to 10-7 with the win, which was their third straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for Struthers, their loss dropped their record down to 7-16.
Struthers couldn't quite finish off Jefferson Area when the teams last played back in April of 2024 and fell 4-2. Can the Wildcats avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
