The Palisades Pirates will look to defend their home field on Monday against the Wilson Area Warriors at 4:00 p.m. Both teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Palisades took a loss when they played away from home on Thursday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Saturday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-3 victory over Palmerton.
Jack Trickel spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and two unearned) runs on eight hits and racked up six Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in three consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Palisades saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Tyler Bonelli, who scored a run while going 2-for-4. Kirsch Kyle was another key contributor, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Wilson Area came tearing into Saturday's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 1.7 runs) and they left with even more momentum. Everything went their way against the Slaters as they made off with an 8-1 win.
Andrew Sagrestano made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out nine batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits (and not a single walk). Sagrestano was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a double.
In other batting news, Wilson Area got a big performance out of Nico Brown, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Zakary Kardos, who scored two runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
Palisades' victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-8. As for Wilson Area, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a massive bump to their 9-6 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Palisades has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Wilson Area struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.9. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Palisades came out on top in a nail-biter against Wilson Area when the teams last played back in March, sneaking past 1-0. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Sagrestano, who didn't allow a single earned run while striking out nine over seven innings pitched. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Palisades still be able to contain Sagrestano? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
