The Seneca Valley Raiders will square off against the Hempfield Area Spartans at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Hempfield Area will take on a team with plenty of momentum: Seneca Valley extended their winning streak to seven on Monday. The Raiders put the hurt on Butler with a sharp 11-4 victory.
Paige Volze was incredible, going 1-for-2 with one home run and two RBI. That home run was her first of the season. The team also got some help courtesy of Neve Miller, who went 1-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
They weren't the only ones working in the home run department: Seneca Valley lost a few balls and finished the game with three home runs. That's the most home runs they've posted since back in March.
Hempfield Area came out on top against Norwin on Friday thanks in part to the team's impressive four-run fourth inning. The Spartans never let the Knights get on the board and left with a 6-0 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Spartans.
Hempfield Area let Jorjah Ostrosky and Allie Cervola run wild. Ostrosky went a perfect 3-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run, while Cervola went 2-for-4 with three stolen bases, one run, and one double. Those two RBI gave Ostrosky a new career-high. Claire Mitchell was another key player, going 1-for-4 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
Seneca Valley pushed their record up to 17-2 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for Hempfield Area, their record is now 21-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Seneca Valley has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 14.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Hempfield Area struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.4 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Seneca Valley skirted past Hempfield Area 2-1 in their previous meeting last Monday. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Raiders since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
