The Valley Central Vikings are taking a road trip to square off against the Wallkill Panthers at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Valley Central will be strutting in after a victory while Wallkill will be coming in after a loss.
The home team had won the previous five meetings between Valley Central and Minisink Valley, and Valley Central kept the tradition alive. The Vikings blew past the Warriors 9-2 on Monday.
Gavin Rounds spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on three hits and racked up 11 Ks.
On the hitting side, Valley Central let Justin Freeman and Darren Russo run wild. Freeman went 2-for-4 with one home run and two runs, while Russo went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two doubles, and one run. Those two doubles gave Russo a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Jake Cancredi, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base and one run.
They weren't the only ones making solid contact: Valley Central kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 13 hits. That's the most hits they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Wallkill didn't have quite enough to beat Red Hook on Wednesday and fell 5-3.
Wallkill saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Mike Daley, who went 1-for-3 with three RBI and one stolen base.
The win got Valley Central back to even at 8-8. As for Wallkill, their defeat dropped their record down to an identical 8-8.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Valley Central has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Wallkill struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Valley Central might still be hurting after the 11-1 loss they got from Wallkill in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Can the Vikings avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
