Shenango hasn't had much luck against Laurel recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Wildcats will host the Spartans at 6:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
If Shenango beats Laurel with 18 runs on Thursday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. The Wildcats' pitchers stepped up to hand Aliquippa an 18-0 shutout on Wednesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Wildcats.
Sydney Byerly made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in strikeouts (three). She was even better at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base. That triple marked the first that she hit this season.
In other batting news, Zoe Offie was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Emma Herb, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Laurel). They blew past New Brighton 20-3 on Wednesday. The win continues a trend for the Spartans in their matchups with the Lions: they've now won six in a row.
Laurel let Ivy Pancher and Hailey Fell run wild. Pancher went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, four runs, and four RBI, while Fell went a perfect 3-for-3 with two triples, three runs, and four RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Mayci Lang, who scored three runs while going 3-for-3.
Laurel was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .538. They are 5-1 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Shenango's victory bumped their record up to 7-5. As for Laurel, their win bumped their record up to 6-3.
Shenango might still be hurting after the 12-1 loss they got from Laurel when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Can the Wildcats avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
