The Athens Wildcats will take on the Sayre Redskins at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Athens has four straight wins, Sayre has 11 straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
On Monday, Athens needed a bit of extra time to put away Mansfield. They came out on top against the Tigers by a score of 9-6. While the Wildcats didn't have the best season last year (they finished 8-12-1), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.
Athens got a great performance from Duncan Thetga as he tossed five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits.
Brendan Cooke
| 03/31/25 @ Mansfield | 4 |
| 03/25/25 @ Wellsboro | 3 |
| 05/09/24 vs Susquehanna Valley | 3 |
| 05/02/24 @ Towanda | 2 |
| 04/19/24 vs Towanda | 2 |
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Brendan Cooke, who went 3-for-4 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Connor Davidson, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4.
Athens kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least ten hits every time they've taken the field this season.
Meanwhile, Sayre lost 16-2 to Cowanesque Valley on Tuesday.
Athens' victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 4-0. Those road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 14.7 runs over those games. As for Sayre, their loss dropped their record down to 0-5.
Sayre's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Athens hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .398. It's a different story for Sayre, though, as they've only averaged .200. Will they be able to contain Athens' hitters?
Athens couldn't quite finish off Sayre in their previous matchup back in April of 2024 and fell 8-6. Can the Wildcats avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
