The Lawrence Cardinals are taking a road trip to take on the Hopewell Valley Central Bulldogs at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Lawrence will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak.
On Wednesday, Lawrence needed a bit of extra time to put away Hamilton. They had just enough and edged out the Hornets 6-5. Six seems to be a good number for the Cardinals as the team scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Aiden Poot and Aiden Crowley were a major factor no matter where they played. Throwing, Poot struck out eight batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off seven hits (and not a single walk). Meanwhile, Crowley struck out eight batters over 2.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. At bat, Poot scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances, while Crowley went 2-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and one RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Seneca Sumners, who scored three runs and stole two bases while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
Meanwhile, the third road matchup was the charm for Hopewell Valley Central, as they earned their first away victory of the season. They were the clear victors by a 12-4 margin over Trenton Central on Monday. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Bulldogs considering their one-run performance the contest before.
Like Lawrence, Hopewell Valley Central also got a great game from a two-way player: Jaykob Shin. He looked comfortable on the mound, keeping things locked down with no earned runs or hits over four innings pitched. Shin was also big at the plate, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in all five of his plate appearances.
In other batting news, Blake Echternacht was incredible, scoring three runs while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Chase Garrow, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with three RBI.
Hopewell Valley Central always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .533. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Lawrence now has a winning record of 3-2. As for Hopewell Valley Central, their win (their first of the season) made their record 1-2-1.
Lawrence was able to grind out a solid victory over Hopewell Valley Central in their previous meeting back in May of 2024, winning 15-11. Do the Cardinals have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Bulldogs turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
