The Annville-Cleona Dutchmen will venture away from home to face off against the Lancaster Catholic Crusaders at 4:15 p.m. on Monday. Annville-Cleona will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.
Annville-Cleona's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Pequea Valley, sneaking past 1-0. The one-run effort marked the Dutchmen's lowest-scoring match of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
Alex Shaffer looked comfortable as he tossed 2.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit.
On the hitting side, Annville-Cleona's victory was truly a team effort as two different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Brayden Lodish, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Lancaster Catholic played in-conference for the first time on Thursday and got just the result they were looking for. Everything went their way against Lancaster Mennonite as they made off with a 9-1 win. The Crusaders might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three games by six runs or more this season.
Gabe Garcia made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out six over four innings pitched. Those six strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
In other batting news, Drew Walker and Zach Zuber did most of the damage at the plate: Walker got on base in three of his five plate appearances with one triple, two RBI, and one run, while Zuber scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-5. Another player making a difference was Luis Velez, who went 2-for-4 with one RBI.
Lancaster Catholic kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Lancaster Mennonite only managed seven hits.
Annville-Cleona's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-3. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.7 runs on average over those games. As for Lancaster Catholic, their record is now 4-5.
Monday's contest will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Annville-Cleona hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .316. However, it's not like Lancaster Catholic struggles in that department as they've averaged .323. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Annville-Cleona took their victory against Lancaster Catholic in their previous meeting back in April of 2024 by a conclusive 11-2 score. Will the Dutchmen repeat their success, or do the Crusaders have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
