Western Beaver has won six straight games at home (dating back to last season), while Ellwood City has won six straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Thursday. The Golden Beavers will host the Wolverine at 4:00 p.m. Western Beaver's pitching crew has only allowed 3.8 runs per game this season, so Ellwood City's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Western Beaver's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They put the hurt on Winchester Thurston with a sharp 8-0 victory. Considering the Golden Beavers have won seven games by more than seven runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Christian Stefankis
| 04/30/25 vs Winchester Thurston | 9 |
| 04/28/25 @ Winchester Thurston | 1 |
| 04/16/25 vs Union Area | 7 |
| 04/10/25 @ Aquinas Academy | 3 |
| 03/25/25 @ Rochester | 4 |
| + 3 more games |
Christian Stefankis was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out nine over seven innings pitched. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in April of 2024. He was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one RBI.
In other batting news, Western Beaver got a big performance out of Sawyer Chaffee, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run. August Lichtner was another key player, going 1-for-4 with one home run and two RBI.
Ellwood City came out on top against Mohawk Area on Tuesday thanks in part to the team's impressive six-run fourth inning. The Wolverine narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past the Warriors 8-7. That's two games straight that the Wolverine have won by just one run.
Jordan Keller and Samuel Landis did most of the damage at the plate: Keller went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one double, while Landis got on base in all three of his plate appearances with two RBI, one run, and one double. Another player making a difference was Jacob Biskup, who went 1-for-3 with two runs and one RBI.
Ellwood City is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 13-4 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.6 runs on average over those games. As for Western Beaver, their win bumped their record up to 12-4.
Western Beaver came up short against Ellwood City when the teams last played back in April of 2023, falling 15-10. Can the Golden Beavers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
