Clarion Area has been on the road for two straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will take on the Oil City Oilers at 4:15 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
In what's become a running theme this season, Clarion Area gave their fans yet another huge victory on Thursday. Everything went their way against Redbank Valley as Clarion Area made off with a 15-1 win. Clarion Area's victory was all the more impressive since Redbank Valley was averaging only 2.92 runs allowed on the season.
Derek Smail made a splash no matter where he played. He pitched four innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. Smail has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive pitching appearances. Smail was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with an RBI.
In other batting news, Dawson Smail was a standout: he fired off two home runs and five RBI while going 2-for-4. Matt Alston was another key contributor, going 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBI.
Meanwhile, Oil City narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past Titusville 3-2.
Oil City's victory was truly a team effort as six different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Braylon Barber, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a double.
Clarion Area pushed their record up to 10-1-1 with that win, which was their seventh straight on the road. As for Oil City, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 8-5 record this season.
Clarion Area was able to grind out a solid victory over Oil City when the teams last played back in May of 2022, winning 8-4. Will Clarion Area repeat their success, or does Oil City have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
