The Shaker Bison are taking a road trip to challenge the Bethlehem Central Eagles at 4:15 p.m. on Monday. Shaker is coming into the game on a three-game losing streak.
On Saturday, Shaker didn't have quite enough to beat Baldwinsville and fell 9-7.
Ruby Szemplinski made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and went 2-for-3 with one home run and two RBI. Maddy Turcotte also deserves some recognition as she brought in her first RBI of the season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Bethlehem Central). They blew past Schenectady 23-2 on Thursday. While the Eagles didn't have the best season last year (they finished 7-10), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.
Molly Campbell was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She struck out 12 batters over 4.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off one hit. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances. She was also stellar in the batter's box, getting on base in all four of her plate appearances with three runs, three RBI, and one double.
In other batting news, Lyla Hanlon was a standout: she went 2-for-4 with one home run, four runs, and five RBI. Meghan Biche was another key player, going 2-for-4 with three runs, three RBI, and one triple.
Bethlehem Central kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 15 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least ten hits in five consecutive matchups.
Bethlehem Central has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 6-3 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 4.0 runs on average over those games. As for Shaker, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-4.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Monday. Shaker hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Bethlehem Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.4 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Shaker beat Bethlehem Central 3-0 when the teams last played back in April of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Bison since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
