Springfield fought the good fight in their extra-innings contest against Strath Haven on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Panthers by a score of 4-3. The Cougars have struggled against the Panthers recently, as the game was their third consecutive lost meeting.
TJ Valletti was huge no matter where he played even without the win. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing 3.1 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-low in earned runs (zero). He was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
In other pitching news, Denny Monastra was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he pitched five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive appearances.
Valletti wasn't the only one making solid contact as seven players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Patrick O'Neill, who went 1-for-4 with one double and one RBI. Max McGhee also deserves some recognition as he got his first hit of the season.
Springfield's loss dropped their record down to 4-13. As for Strath Haven, they pushed their record up to 8-5 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season.
While Springfield had to take the loss, they won't have to wait long to give it another shot: the pair will be back at it again later today.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
