The Lakeview Sailors will head out on the road to face off against the Clarion Area Bobcats at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday. Lakeview's pitching crew has only allowed 1.4 runs per game this season, so Clarion Area's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Lakeview's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They blew past Rocky Grove 10-0. The Sailors might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won ten matchups by ten runs or more this season.
Not much got past Parker Montgomery, who gave up just two hits and racked up nine Ks to keep Rocky Grove off the board. Montgomery has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two hits in seven consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Lakeview got a massive performance out of Owen Dye, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two stolen bases, three runs, and one triple. The team also got some help courtesy of Lucas Fagley, who went 3-for-4 with three stolen bases, two runs, and one double.
Lakeview always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .514. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Rocky Grove only posted an OBP of .143.
Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, Clarion Area's good fortune finally ran out on Wednesday. They fell just short of Redbank Valley by a score of 8-6.
Clarion Area saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Carter Hindman, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI. Billy Kahle also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.
The win made it two in a row for Lakeview and bumps their season record up to 12-3. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.0 runs over those games. As for Clarion Area, their loss dropped their record down to 9-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Lakeview has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Clarion Area struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.
