The New Castle Hurricanes will face off against the Ellwood City Wolverine at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The last four games New Castle has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
New Castle is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to ten runs on Wednesday, they were much more limited against Shaler Area on Monday. They fell just short of the Titans by a score of 3-1. That's two games in a row now that the Hurricanes have lost by exactly two runs.
Keara Mangieri made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and went 1-for-3 with one home run.
Meanwhile, after only one run in their last game, Ellwood City made sure to put some runs up on the board against Quaker Valley on Thursday. The Wolverine blew past the Quakers 14-3. The Wolverine might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six matches by six runs or more this season.
Amber McQuistion made a splash while hitting and pitching. She struck out eight batters over six innings while giving up three earned runs off six hits. McQuistion was also stellar in the batter's box, getting on base in all four of her plate appearances with two doubles and two RBI.
In other batting news, Ellwood City got a big performance out of Kaylee Palombi, who went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. That's the most RBI Palombi has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Sara Schwarz, who went 2-for-3 with three runs.
Ellwood City always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .622. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Quaker Valley only posted an OBP of .467.
Ellwood City is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-5 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.6 runs over those games. As for New Castle, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-10.
Both New Castle and Ellwood City just can't seem to miss. The Hurricanes have been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 11.3 hits per game. However, it's not like Ellwood City struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 4.8 hits. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
New Castle couldn't quite finish off Ellwood City in their previous matchup back in April of 2024 and fell 10-8. Can the Hurricanes avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
