The Cedar Crest Falcons will challenge the Northern Lebanon Vikings at 4:15 p.m. on Friday. Cedar Crest is coming into the contest on a five-game losing streak.
J.P. McCaskey hit Cedar Crest with a four-run sixth inning on Wednesday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Falcons fell just short of the Red Tornado by a score of 9-8.
Isaac Kreider made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 2-for-3 with two runs, two doubles, and one stolen base. Carson DiBiaso was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, two RBI, and one run.
Meanwhile, Northern Lebanon got themselves on the board against Pequea Valley on Wednesday, but Pequea Valley never followed suit. They blew past the Braves 10-0. The Vikings might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven matches by eight runs or more this season.
Brian Bicksler made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out six over five innings pitched. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in March. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with two RBI and one run.
In other batting news, Adrian Gonzalez was excellent, going 2-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Andrew Via, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI and one run.
Northern Lebanon hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least five batters in six consecutive games.
Northern Lebanon's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 16-2. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.9 runs on average over those games. As for Cedar Crest, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-11.
Cedar Crest took their victory against Northern Lebanon when the teams last played back in April of 2019 by a conclusive 10-0 score. Do the Falcons have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Vikings turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
