The Athens Wildcats will head out on the road to take on the Troy Trojans at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Athens' pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Saturday. Everything went their way against Edison as they made off with a 10-0 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Wildcats.
Nick Grazul
| 04/19/25 vs Edison | 3 |
| 04/19/25 @ Towanda | 2 |
| 04/13/25 vs Towanda | 2 |
| 03/27/25 @ Wyalusing Valley | 2 |
| 03/24/25 vs Troy | 2 |
Nick Grazul made a splash while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over five innings pitched. Grazul was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with three runs and one stolen base. Those three runs gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Eli Hobday, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double. Carson Rowe also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
Athens was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .381. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .308 or higher in five consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Troy got the win against Wellsboro on Tuesday by a conclusive 14-7. The victory continues a trend for the Trojans in their matchups with the Hornets: they've now won six in a row.
Frank Harper tossed a big game, tossing 5.1 innings while giving up just two earned runs off six hits.
On the hitting side, Joseph Frye was a standout: he went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and two doubles. The team also got some help courtesy of Lincoln Chimics, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI.
Athens pushed their record up to 9-1 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Troy, their record is now 7-4.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Thursday as neither team is afraid to steal. Athens has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.1 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Troy struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 4.9 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Athens took their win against Troy in their previous meeting back in March by a conclusive 14-4 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Wildcats since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
