North Fork is a perfect 5-0 against Grand Valley since June of 2021 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Tuesday. The Miners will look to defend their home field against the Cardinals at 2:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Grand Valley will be up against a hot North Fork team: the squad just extended their winning streak to three. The Miners were the clear victors by an 11-5 margin over Rangely on Saturday. Considering the Miners have won four matchups by more than five runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
Payson Pene
| 04/05/25 vs The Classical Academy | 8 |
| 03/25/25 vs Olathe | 6 |
| 04/01/25 vs Cedaredge | 5 |
| 03/12/25 vs Basalt | 3 |
| 04/19/25 vs Rangely | 2 |
| + 1 more games |
Payson Pene was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out ten over six innings pitched. He has become a key player for North Fork: the team is undefeated when he allows at most three hits, but 3-6 otherwise. Pene was also big at the plate, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with three runs and one stolen base.
In other pitching news, Konnor Crawford looked comfortable as he tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. He is becoming a predictor of North Fork's success: when he allows at most two earned runs the team is 4-2 (and 2-4 when he doesn't).
Back at the plate, the team relied heavily on Mario Gama, who went 2-for-4 with six stolen bases, three runs, and three RBI. That's the most hits he has posted since back in May of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Skyler Anderson, who got on base in two of his four plate appearances with three stolen bases and one run.
Meanwhile, Grand Valley came up short against Nucla on Thursday and fell 17-14. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Tuesday (11), the Cardinals still had to take the loss.
Tomas Satterfield was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. JJ Whiting was another key player, going 1-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.
The win got North Fork back to even at 6-6. As for Grand Valley, their loss dropped their record down to 4-11.
Everything went North Fork's way against Grand Valley when the teams last played back in March, as North Fork made off with a 12-0 victory. Do the Miners have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Cardinals turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
