The North East Grape Pickers will face off against the Seneca Bobcats at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (North East has six straight wins, Seneca has ten straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
While North East didn't have the best season last year (they finished 4-12), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They were the clear victors by an 11-3 margin over West Middlesex on Friday. The Grape Pickers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three games by eight runs or more this season.
Colton Owens was a standout: he scored two runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Jayden Wittman, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
North East always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .514. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as West Middlesex only posted an OBP of .300.
Meanwhile, Seneca came up short against Girard on Friday, falling 10-1.
Seneca saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Kendall Yosten, who went 1-for-3 with one RBI. That RBI marked the first that Yosten brought in this season.
North East's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 6-0. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Seneca, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-6.
Seneca's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: North East has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .488. It's a different story for Seneca, though, as they've only averaged .250. Will they be able to contain North East's hitters?
North East took their victory against Seneca in their previous matchup back in March by a conclusive 15-3 score. Will the Grape Pickers repeat their success, or do the Bobcats have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
