The Bethlehem Catholic Hawks will venture away from home to challenge the Nazareth Area Blue Eagles at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Bethlehem Catholic has given up an average of 7.1 runs per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
Bethlehem Catholic's last matchup with Liberty could've gone either way, but unfortunately the same can't be said for the pair's game on Wednesday. The Hawks came up short against the Hurricanes, falling 15-5. The Hawks haven't had much luck with the Hurricanes recently, as the team has come up short the last three times they've met.
Bethlehem Catholic saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Petros Tsihlis, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one double. Emery Oberholzer also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.
Meanwhile, it may have taken eight innings to finish the job, but Nazareth Area ultimately got the result they hoped for on Wednesday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Freedom, sneaking past 4-2. The win was nothing new for the Blue Eagles as they're now sitting on five straight.
Bobby Grzenda and Landon Glovas made a splash no matter where they played. Throwing, Grzenda pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Meanwhile, Glovas didn't allow a single earned run while striking out six over six innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in five consecutive appearances. At the plate, Grzenda went 1-for-3 with three RBI and one double, while Glovas went 3-for-4 with one run and one RBI. Those three hits gave Glovas a new career-high.
In other batting news, Ryan Petruska was excellent, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Chase Kilareski, who went 1-for-3 with one triple.
Nazareth Area pushed their record up to 11-4 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Bethlehem Catholic, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-7.
Bethlehem Catholic might still be hurting after the 11-1 loss they got from Nazareth Area when the teams last played back in March. Can the Hawks avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
