The Pine Grove Cardinals will take on the Saucon Valley Panthers at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Pine Grove is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They had just enough and edged Panther Valley out 4-2. The victory was nothing new for Pine Grove as they're now sitting on four straight.
Carson Lengle was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out ten batters over six innings while giving up just two earned runs off one hit. Lengle has been consistent recently: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in six consecutive pitching appearances. Lengle was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-2.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Wyatt Snyder, who went 1-for-3 with a home run and three RBI.
Northwestern Lehigh typically has all the answers at home, but on Tuesday Saucon Valley proved too difficult a challenge. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Tigers a 5-0 shutout. Winning may never get old, but Saucon Valley sure is getting used to it with their third in a row.
Like Pine Grove, Saucon Valley also got a great game from a two-way player: Cole Hubert. He didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 12 over seven innings pitched. Hubert was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a stolen base and a double.
Hubert wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Thomas Ubriaco, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
Pine Grove has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-7 record this season. As for Saucon Valley, their record is now 11-9.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Saturday as neither team is afraid to steal. Pine Grove has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.6 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Saucon Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.2. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Pine Grove couldn't quite finish off Saucon Valley in their previous matchup back in May of 2022 and fell 6-4. Can Pine Grove avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
