After three games on the road, Juniata is heading back home. They will take on the East Juniata Tigers at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Juniata is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.8 runs per game this season.
On Tuesday, it was a hard-fought match, but Juniata had to settle for a 7-6 loss against Greenwood.
Mason Nipple and Grant Reinhold stepped up to the plate in a big way. Nipple went 1-for-3 with three RBI, a stolen base, and a double, while Reinhold scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, East Juniata got the win against Line Mountain on Tuesday by a conclusive 12-2. The victory made it back-to-back wins for East Juniata.
Kolten Martin was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out 14 batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits (and only one walk). Martin has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in five consecutive pitching appearances. Martin was also big at the plate, scoring three runs while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
In other batting news, Kelton Bonnell was incredible, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with a home run, three runs, and three RBI. Another player making a difference was Clark Ritzman, who scored three runs and stole three bases while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
Juniata dropped their record down to 8-10 with that defeat, which was their third straight on the road. As for East Juniata, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 5-10 record this season.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Thursday as neither team is afraid to steal. Juniata has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.9 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like East Juniata struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.1. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Everything went Juniata's way against East Juniata when the teams last played back in April as Juniata made off with a 19-4 win. Will Juniata repeat their success, or does East Juniata have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
