The Lakewood Piners will head out to square off against the Keansburg Titans at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Lakewood will bounce into Wednesday's contest after beating Henry Hudson, who they had gone 0-6 against in their six prior meetings. The Piners walked away with a 7-4 win over the Admirals on Thursday.
Abel Martinez and Cris Rosario made a big impact no matter where they played. Throwing, Martinez struck out ten batters over four innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off three hits. Meanwhile, Rosario struck out seven batters over three innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. At bat, Martinez scored three runs and stole three bases while going 3-for-3, while Rosario scored a run and stole a base. The dominant performance also gave Rosario a new career-high in RBI (two).
They weren't the only ones making solid contact as two players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Chris Herrera, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, Keansburg was able to grind out a solid victory over Keyport on Thursday, taking the game 11-7. The Titans haven't had any issues with the Raiders recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive win against them.
Like Lakewood, Keansburg also got a great game from a two-way player: James Valle. He pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Valle was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring four runs and stealing four bases while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
In other batting news, Keansburg let Emmanuel Ramirez and Michael Burke run wild. Ramirez got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two RBI and one double, while Burke scored three runs and stole two bases while going 1-for-4. Shawn Retta was another key player, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4.
Keansburg's record now sits at 2-0. As for Lakewood, the victory got them back to even at 2-2.
Lakewood might still be hurting after the 12-0 defeat they got from Keansburg when the teams last played back in May of 2024. Can the Piners avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
