Bethlehem Central had lost three games at home, but after bumping their record up to 4-4-1 on Monday that streak is in the rearview. They skirted past the Columbia Blue Devils 3-2. For the Eagles, this counts as revenge for the 5-3 victory the Blue Devils walked away with the last time they faced one another back in May of 2025.
Jacob Bradt tossed a big game, striking out six batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just two earned runs off three hits (and only one walk). Those six strikeouts gave him a new career-high.
Eli Proper
| 04/20/26 vs Columbia | 2 |
| 04/06/26 vs Albany | 1 |
| 04/01/26 @ Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk | 1 |
| 03/25/26 vs Maple Hill | 1 |
| 05/13/25 vs Maple Hill | 1 |
On the hitting side, Eli Proper was excellent, going 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI. Those two stolen bases gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Eamon McClain, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base and one run.
As for Columbia, their loss dropped their record down to 5-3. Having soared to a lofty 13 runs in the game before, they couldn't push the score so high this time.
On Columbia's side, Justin Murphy was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out six batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. Murphy has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances.
Bethlehem Central will have a chance to go back-to-back against Columbia: the pair's next game is a rematch scheduled at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
