The Waynesburg Central Raiders will face off against the Bentworth Bearcats at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. The timing is sure in Waynesburg Central's favor as the team sits on three straight wins at home while Bentworth has been banged up by four consecutive losses on the road dating back to last season.
If Waynesburg Central beats Bentworth with 13 runs on Thursday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two matchups with that exact score. Everything went Waynesburg Central's way against Brownsville on Wednesday as Waynesburg Central made off with a 13-5 win. The Raiders haven't had any issues with the Falcons recently, as the game was their eighth consecutive victory against them.
Tyler Groves
| 03/26/25 vs Brownsville | 1 |
| 03/25/25 @ Brownsville | 3 |
| 03/21/25 vs Fort LeBoeuf | 2 |
Tyler Groves made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out nine batters over six innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off nine hits. Groves was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-3. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played.
In other batting news, Waynesburg Central got a massive performance out of Alex VanSickle, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two triples and two runs. Those two triples gave VanSickle a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Austin Surber, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-4.
Waynesburg Central kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in nine consecutive games dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Bentworth was able to grind out a solid win over Frazier on Tuesday, taking the game 5-2.
Like Waynesburg Central, Bentworth also got a great game from a two-way player: Sam Wade. He struck out seven batters over six innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits. That's the fewest earned runs Wade has allowed since back in April of 2024. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one stolen base and one RBI.
In other batting news, Bentworth let Ben Hayes and Zeek Malanowsky run wild. Hayes scored a run and stole two bases while going 2-for-4, while Malanowsky scored a run while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Lucas Burt, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
Waynesburg Central's victory bumped their record up to 5-0. As for Bentworth, the win got them back to even at 1-1.
Waynesburg Central beat Bentworth 5-1 in their previous meeting back in March of 2024. Does Waynesburg Central have another victory up their sleeve, or will Bentworth turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
