Baseball Recap: Hazleton Area Wins Going Away Against Wyoming Valley West

Cougars

Margin (Wins)

04/23/25 vs Greater Nanticoke Area	14
04/07/25 @ Berwick	12
05/07/25 @ Wyoming Valley West	10
04/01/25 @ Greater Nanticoke Area	10
04/29/25 vs Crestwood	7

Hazleton Area barely beat Wyoming Valley West the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Cougars blew past the Spartans 13-3 on Wednesday. The Cougars might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven matchups by six runs or more this season.

Dominic Marino was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Those ten strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, earning one run and three stolen bases.

In other batting news, Hazleton Area got a massive performance out of Shea Higgins, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI. That's the most runs Higgins has posted since back in April. Another player making a difference was Logan Hearity, who went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI.

Hazleton Area is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games. That's provided a nice bump to their 12-5 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.8 runs on average over those games. As for Wyoming Valley West, they have been struggling recently as they've lost eight of their last nine contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 7-11 record this season.

We've got plenty of inter-conference action coming up soon. Hazleton Area is set to square off against their familiar foe Berwick at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The timing is sure in the Cougars' favor as the squad sits on six straight wins at home while the Bulldogs have been banged up by three consecutive losses on the road. Meanwhile, Wyoming Valley West will take on rival Dallas at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday.