The Carlisle Thundering Herd will head out to square off against the Palmyra Cougars at 4:15 p.m. on Monday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Carlisle has struggled recently with five defeats in a row, while Palmyra will arrive with five straight victories.
On Saturday, Carlisle didn't have quite enough to beat Red Lion and fell 4-3.
Carlisle saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Isaiah Ream, who scored a run while going 1-for-3. Curtis Stroud also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
Palmyra hadn't beaten Bishop McDevitt on the road since May 9, 2019 but that history sure didn't bother them on Thursday. Palmyra put the hurt on Bishop McDevitt with a sharp 13-5 win. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Cougars have posted against the Crusaders since March 30, 2022.
Brayden Bown looked comfortable as he struck out six batters over four innings while giving up just two earned runs off three hits.
On the hitting side, Palmyra got a massive performance out of Nate Osteen, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4. Those three runs gave Osteen a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Aiden Willard, who went a perfect 5-for-5 with three RBI and one double.
Palmyra was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .378. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .308 or higher in three consecutive matchups.
Carlisle's loss dropped their record down to 0-5. As for Palmyra, their record is now 5-0.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Monday. Carlisle hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.8 home runs per game. However, it's not like Palmyra struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.6 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Carlisle suffered a grim 8-2 defeat to Palmyra in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. Can Carlisle avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
