The Cranford Cougars will head out on the road to square off against the New Providence Pioneers at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams have allowed few runs on average, (Cranford: 3.9, New Providence: 3.3) so any runs scored will be well earned.
On Wednesday, it was a hard-fought match, but Cranford had to settle for a 7-6 loss against Westfield. Cranford has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Joseph Paccione was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he tossed 5.1 innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off four hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in three consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Patrick Bendert made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and scored a run while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, New Providence was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They fell just short of Scotch Plains-Fanwood by a score of 5-4. That's two games in a row now that New Providence has lost by just one run.
Cranford's loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 7-5. As for New Providence, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-6.
Cranford skirted past New Providence 7-5 in their previous matchup on April 4th. The rematch might be a little tougher for Cranford since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
