Middie Bears
| 04/23/25 @ Minisink Valley | 1 |
| 04/14/25 @ Valley Central | 11 |
| 04/10/25 @ Pine Bush | 3 |
| 04/09/25 vs Kingston | 4 |
| 04/01/25 @ Monticello | 22 |
The Middletown Middie Bears will venture away from home to square off against the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Middletown is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.2 runs per game this season.
Middletown is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 11 runs last Monday, they were much more limited against Minisink Valley on Wednesday. They fell just short of the Warriors by a score of 2-1. The Middie Bears have struggled against the Warriors recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive lost meeting.
Middletown saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Gabriella Diaz, who went 2-for-3 with one run and one double.
Meanwhile, Monroe-Woodbury was not the first on the board on Wednesday, but they got there more often. They came out on top against Newburgh Free Academy by a score of 9-5.
Isabella Brelesky was a major factor no matter where she played. She struck out nine batters over seven innings while giving up five earned runs off nine hits. Brelesky was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with one home run and two runs. That home run was her first of the season.
In other batting news, Emily O'Brien and Cori Exarchakis did most of the damage at the plate: O'Brien went 3-for-4 with two RBI, one run, and one double, while Exarchakis went 1-for-4 with one home run and two RBI. Exarchakis has been hot recently, having posted at least one home run the last three times she's played. Another player making a difference was Gabby Schaeffer, who went 1-for-3 with two runs and one stolen base.
Monroe-Woodbury kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least ten hits in five consecutive matchups.
Monroe-Woodbury pushed their record up to 5-1 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Middletown, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-2.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Middletown has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Monroe-Woodbury struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Middletown skirted past Monroe-Woodbury 4-3 when the teams last played back in May of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Middie Bears since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
