The Athens Wildcats are taking a road trip to square off against the Wyalusing Valley Rams at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Athens 1, Wyalusing Valley 2.8) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Wyalusing Valley will be up against a hot Athens team: the squad just extended their winning streak to four. The Wildcats' pitchers stepped up to hand Northeast Bradford a 9-0 shutout two weeks ago. Give the Wildcats' pitching crew some credit: that's the team's third straight shutout.
Meanwhile, Wyalusing Valley got the win against Troy on Tuesday by a conclusive 9-2. Considering the Rams have won five games by more than six runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Addison Fluck spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered two runs (both of which were unearned) on five hits and racked up seven Ks. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in eight consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Kirra Millard and Josie Ferris did most of the damage at the plate: Millard got a hit, while Ferris went 1-for-3 with three RBI, two runs, and one double. The dominant performance also gave Millard a new career-high in runs (three). Another player making a difference was Addisyn Bly, who went 1-for-4 with two runs and one RBI.
Wyalusing Valley's win bumped their record up to 8-5. As for Athens, their victory bumped their record up to 6-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Athens has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Wyalusing Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Athens beat Wyalusing Valley 5-1 when the teams last played on April 3rd. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Wildcats since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
