The Mt. Pleasant Vikings will venture away from home to take on the Ligonier Valley Rams at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Mt. Pleasant comes in on seven and Ligonier Valley on six.
While Mt. Pleasant's victory against Ringgold wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Vikings skirted past the Rams 4-2.
Carter Strayer was excellent, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Cole Chatfield, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and one run.
Meanwhile, Ligonier Valley won against Southmoreland on Tuesday with ten runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Thursday. The Rams blew past East Allegheny 10-0.
Duncan Foust made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out nine over six innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one walk in six consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs, one stolen base, and one double. He has become a key player for Ligonier Valley: the team is 4-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 4-6 otherwise.
In other batting news, Ligonier Valley let Noah Knupp and Austin Harr run wild. Knupp went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double, while Harr went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run. Those two stolen bases gave Knupp a new career-high. Jacob Petalino was another key player, going 2-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
Ligonier Valley kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 5.5 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 games they've averaged 11.4.
Mt. Pleasant pushed their record up to 12-4-1 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.8 runs on average over those games. As for Ligonier Valley, they now have a winning record of 8-7.
Everything went Mt. Pleasant's way against Ligonier Valley when the teams last played back in May of 2022, as Mt. Pleasant made off with an 11-1 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Vikings since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
