The Hazleton Area Cougars will be playing in front of their home fans against the Tunkhannock Tigers at 4:15 a.m. on Monday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Hazleton Area is headed into the contest fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They blew past Dallas 20-13. The win was some much needed relief for Hazleton Area as it spelled an end to their three-game losing streak.
The team relied heavily on Marissa Hoffman, who went 5-for-5 with a home run, eight RBI, and two runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Kayla Lagowy, who scored six runs and stole a base while going 5-for-6.
Meanwhile, Tunkhannock stacked an eighth blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Thursday. Everything went their way against Wilkes-Barre as Tunkhannock made off with a 13-2 victory. 13 seems to be a good number for Tunkhannock as the team scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Mckenzie Hannon made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, pitching six innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits. Hannon has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts every time she's pitched this season. Hannon was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with a home run, four RBI, and two runs.
In other batting news, Erin Van Ness was a standout: she went 2-for-3 with a triple, two RBI, and a run. Another player making a difference was Elaina Kulsicavage, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-4.
Hazleton Area's victory bumped their record up to 5-7. As for Tunkhannock, their win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-3.
Monday's match will be a test for both team's pitchers. Hazleton Area hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .332. However, it's not like Tunkhannock struggles in that department as they've averaged .379. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Hazleton Area might still be hurting after the 8-1 loss they got from Tunkhannock in their previous matchup on April 9th. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Hannon, who struck out 12 batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Now that Hazleton Area knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
