The Fairview Knights will head out on the road to face off against the Fossil Ridge SaberCats at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Tuesday, it was close, but Fairview sidestepped Erie for a 7-6 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for Fairview.
Jackson Wier made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out six batters over six innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off six hits. Wier was also stellar in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with a home run and two RBI.
Wier wasn't the only one making solid contact as six players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Jack Espiritu-Niswonger, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 1-for-4. Espiritu-Niswonger has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times he's played. Tanner Craytor was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Fossil Ridge stacked an 11th blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Thursday. They never let Monarch onto the board and left with a 10-0 win. The victory was familiar territory for Fossil Ridge who now have five in a row.
Vedant Sharma tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and only two hits while striking out ten over five innings pitched.
At the plate, Fossil Ridge got a massive performance out of Ethan Moran, who scored three runs and stole three bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Luc Gaca-Thiele, who went 2-for-3 with a home run, a stolen base, and two RBI.
Fairview is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 8-6 record this season. As for Fossil Ridge, they pushed their record up to 14-1 with that win, which was their third straight on the road.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. Fairview has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 2.8 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Fossil Ridge struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5.1. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Fairview suffered a grim 10-3 defeat to Fossil Ridge in their previous meeting back in April of 2023. Thankfully for Fairview, Tyler Kubat (who struck out nine batters over seven innings while giving up three earned runs off seven hits (and not a single walk)) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
