The Northern Highlands Highlanders will square off against the Westwood Cardinals at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Northern Highlands' pitching crew has only allowed 2.7 runs per game this season, so Westwood's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Westwood will be up against a hot Northern Highlands squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. The Highlanders came out on top against Bergenfield by a score of 6-1 on Friday.
Ryan Lalime looked comfortable as he pitched 3.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits.
On the hitting side, Northern Highlands saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Stephen Martinez, who scored a run while going 1-for-2. Martinez also put up a double, which was his first of the season.
Meanwhile, Westwood made easy work of Fort Lee on Friday and carried off a 13-6 victory. The Cardinals haven't had any issues with the Bridgemen recently, as the game was their eighth consecutive win against them.
Connor Stewart made a big impact no matter where he played. He pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Stewart was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
In other pitching news, Westwood got a great performance from Cooper Smith as he pitched 4.1 innings while giving up just one earned run off five hits.
Back at the plate, the team relied heavily on Jack Walsh, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. He has been hot recently, having also posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played. Mardi Ekmekjian was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
Westwood kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That's the most hits they've managed all season.
Northern Highlands' victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 6-1. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Westwood, the victory got them back to even at 3-3.
Northern Highlands suffered a grim 14-5 defeat to Westwood when the teams last played back in May of 2021. Can the Highlanders avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
