Baseball Game Preview: North Clarion Wolves vs. Youngsville Eagles

The North Clarion Wolves are taking a road trip to square off against the Youngsville Eagles at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. North Clarion comes in still looking for their first win of the season.

North Clarion is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They came up short against Union/Allegheny-Clarion Valley on Wednesday, falling 18-3. That's two games in a row now that the Wolves have lost by exactly 15 runs.

Ryan Pappas

Stolen Base

04/23/25 vs Union/Allegheny-Clarion Valley	4
04/17/25 @ Clarion Area	2
04/12/25 @ Union/Allegheny-Clarion Valley	2
04/09/25 vs Cranberry Area	2
04/07/25 @ Keystone	2

North Clarion saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ryan Pappas, who went 2-for-3 with four stolen bases and one run. Pappas has been hot, having posted two or more stolen bases the last five times he's played.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Youngsville, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Thursday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 3-1 victory over Iroquois on Wednesday. The win continues a trend for the Eagles in their matchups with the Braves: they've now won six in a row.

David Manning spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered a run (which was unearned) on four hits and racked up 13 Ks. He also tossed a walk, which is notable because Youngsville is undefeated when he allows at most one walk, but 0-4 otherwise.

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Cole Johnson, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with four stolen bases, one run, and one double. He is becoming a predictor of Youngsville's success: when he posts at least two stolen bases the team is 2-1 (and 1-3 when he doesn't). Braydon Baker also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.

Youngsville's victory bumped their record up to 3-4. As for North Clarion, their loss dropped their record down to 0-6.

The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. North Clarion has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.5 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Youngsville struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 4.7 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.