Southern Lehigh and Palmerton are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2019, but likely not for long. The Southern Lehigh Spartans will head out on the road to challenge the Palmerton Blue Bombers at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
On Tuesday, Southern Lehigh got the win against Bangor by a conclusive 16-4.
Delaney Young tossed a big game, pitching five innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in six consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Kaley Hoffman was incredible, firing off two home runs, five RBI, and three runs while going 2-for-3. Alexa Smith was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Palmerton waltzed into their contest on Monday with five straight wins... but they left with six. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Falcons a 10-0 shutout.
HAILEY BARRY made a splash while hitting and pitching. She didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out seven over four innings pitched. BARRY was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4.
In other pitching news, not much got past CARLY GAFFNEY, who gave up just one hit to keep Salisbury Township off the board.
Back at the plate, Palmerton got a big performance out of SYDNEY FRANTZ, who scored two runs while going 2-for-4. Another player making a difference was MIKAYLA PENGELLY, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-1.
Southern Lehigh now has a winning record of 7-6. As for Palmerton, they pushed their record up to 11-1 with that win, which was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season.
Thursday's match will be a test for both team's pitchers. Southern Lehigh hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .336. However, it's not like Palmerton struggles in that department as they've averaged .426. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Southern Lehigh might still be hurting after the 14-2 defeat they got from Palmerton in their previous meeting on April 9th. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of GAFFNEY, who didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over five innings pitched. Now that Southern Lehigh knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
