The Hastings Yellow Jackets will venture away from home to challenge the Putnam Valley Tigers at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Hastings will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak.
Hastings is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Saturday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 9-7 win over Briarcliff. Surprisingly, this marked the Yellow Jackets' fifth straight game in which the away team has come away the victor.
Avi Rothstein was excellent, going 1-for-4 with one home run and two RBI. Kieran McGrath was another key player, getting on base in four of his five plate appearances with one run.
Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Putnam Valley challenged The Leffell School two weeks ago. The Tigers never let the Lions get on the board and left with an 8-0 victory. The result was nothing new for the Tigers, who have now won 11 matchups by seven runs or more so far this season.
Putnam Valley let Jay Constantino and James Sanford run wild. Constantino got on base in three of his five plate appearances with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI, while Sanford went a perfect 2-for-2 with one run, one double, and one RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Jake Peterson, who went 1-for-3 with two runs and one stolen base.
The win (which was Putnam Valley's third in a row) raised their record to 15-4. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Hastings, their win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 13-9.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Hastings has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Putnam Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 8.8 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Hastings suffered a grim 14-4 defeat to Putnam Valley when the teams last played back in April. Can the Yellow Jackets avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
