Homer-Center and West Shamokin are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2017, but likely not for long. The Homer-Center Wildcats will head out on the road to square off against the West Shamokin Wolves at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Homer-Center has seven straight victories, West Shamokin has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
On Saturday, Homer-Center needed a bit of extra time to put away Derry. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Trojans and snuck past 11-10.
Owen Saiani made a splash while hitting and pitching. He struck out seven batters over 3.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Saiani was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in five of his six plate appearances. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now stolen at least one in the last four games he's played.
In other batting news, Homer-Center got a massive performance out of Dom Shimko, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Brayden Rado, who scored two runs while going 2-for-5.
Meanwhile, it was a hard-fought game, but West Shamokin had to settle for an 8-7 loss against United on Monday.
Like Homer-Center, West Shamokin also got a great game from a two-way player: Max Long. On the mound, he pitched 4.1 innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits. Long was even better at the plate, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, Ben McConnell was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring a run and stealing five bases while getting on base in four of his six plate appearances.
Even though they lost, West Shamokin didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with 11 strikeouts. That's the most strikeouts they've managed all season.
Homer-Center pushed their record up to 10-3 with that win, which was their fourth straight at home. As for West Shamokin, their record now sits at 6-9.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Tuesday as neither team is afraid to steal. Homer-Center has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 2.8 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like West Shamokin struggles in that department as they've been averaging 4. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Homer-Center came out on top in a nail-biter against West Shamokin in their previous matchup back in May of 2023, sneaking past 5-3. Will Homer-Center repeat their success, or does West Shamokin have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
