The Putnam Valley Tigers will take on the Hastings Yellow Jackets at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a three-game winning streak alive.
Putnam Valley's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed two weeks ago. They blew past The Leffell School 8-0. The result was nothing new for the Tigers, who have now won 11 contests by seven runs or more so far this season.
Jay Constantino and James Sanford did most of the damage at the plate: Constantino got on base in three of his five plate appearances with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI, while Sanford went a perfect 2-for-2 with one run, one double, and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Joey Recuppio, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one run.
Meanwhile, two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only Hastings walked away with it. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past the Bears 9-7. Surprisingly, this marked the Yellow Jackets' fifth straight game in which the away team has come away the victor.
The team relied heavily on Avi Rothstein, who went 1-for-4 with one home run and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Kieran McGrath, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with one run.
Hastings pushed their record up to 13-9 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. Those road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.7 runs over those games. As for Putnam Valley, their win bumped their record up to 15-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Putnam Valley has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Hastings struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Putnam Valley took their victory against Hastings in their previous matchup back in April by a conclusive 14-4 score. Will the Tigers repeat their success, or do the Yellow Jackets have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
