Baseball Game Preview: Clarion Area Bobcats vs. Moniteau Warriors

Clarion Area and Moniteau are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2017, but likely not for long. The Bobcats will be playing at home against the Warriors at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday. Clarion Area is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.6 runs per game this season.

Clarion Area will roll into the game after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up two runs on Friday, then bounced right back against Union/Allegheny-Clarion Valley on Monday. The Bobcats came out on top against Union/Allegheny-Clarion Valley by a score of 10-5. The Bobcats haven't had any issues with Union/Allegheny-Clarion Valley recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive victory against them.

Derek Smail

Runs

04/28/25 @ Union/Allegheny-Clarion Valley	2
04/23/25 @ Clarion-Limestone	2
04/17/25 vs North Clarion	2
04/12/25 @ Keystone	2
04/07/25 vs Karns City	2
+ 2 more games

The team relied heavily on Derek Smail, who got on base in three of his five plate appearances with two runs and two RBI. He has become a key player for Clarion Area: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 1-3 otherwise. Billy Kahle was another key player, going 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and two runs.

Meanwhile, Moniteau earned a 5-2 win over Cranberry Area on Monday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Warriors.

Weston Cook was excellent, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one double and one RBI. That double was his first of the season. The team also got some help courtesy of Brennan Kelly, who went 3-for-4 with two RBI.

Clarion Area pushed their record up to 7-3 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.5 runs on average over those games. As for Moniteau, their victory bumped their record up to 7-5.

Everything went Clarion Area's way against Moniteau in their previous matchup back in May of 2024, as Clarion Area made off with a 10-0 win. Will the Bobcats repeat their success, or do the Warriors have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.