The Mechanicsburg Wildcats will head out to square off against the Cedar Cliff Colts at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Mechanicsburg sitting on four straight wins and Cedar Cliff on three.
Mechanicsburg's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They walked away with a 5-0 victory over State College.
Not much got past Gino Coleman, who gave up just two hits and racked up six Ks to keep State College off the board. Coleman has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks any time he's pitched this season.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Jager Nailor, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 3-for-3. Eli Reider also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Meanwhile, Cedar Cliff made easy work of Altoona on Tuesday and carried off a 10-0 win.
Luke Sowers made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out six over five innings pitched. Those six strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 1-for-2.
In other batting news, Blake Secrest was excellent, scoring two runs while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances. That's the most runs he has posted since back in May of 2024. Another player making a difference was Owen Anastasi, who scored two runs while going 1-for-2.
Mechanicsburg's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-3. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Cedar Cliff, their record now sits at 6-2.
Cedar Cliff's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Mechanicsburg has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .434. It's a different story for Cedar Cliff, though, as they've only averaged .362. Will they be able to contain Mechanicsburg's hitters?
Mechanicsburg came up short against Cedar Cliff when the teams last played back in March, falling 8-5. Can the Wildcats avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
