The Athens Wildcats are on the road again on Friday to play the Mansfield Tigers at 4:30 p.m. Athens will be strutting in after a victory while Mansfield will be coming in after a loss.
Athens will roll into the contest after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up two runs on Saturday, then bounced right back against Towanda on Thursday. Athens put the hurt on Towanda with a sharp 12-5 win.
Connor Mosher was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out seven batters over four innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off one hit. Mosher was also big at the plate, scoring three runs while going 3-for-5.
In other batting news, Cooper Robinson was a standout: he scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Another player making a difference was Kamdyn Wheeler, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Mansfield started off well but failed to capitalize on an early lead against Troy. They lost 11-3 to the Trojans on Tuesday.
Easton Cleveland-Pequignot was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-2 with two stolen bases, two RBI, and a double.
Athens' victory bumped their record up to 6-8. As for Mansfield, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-5.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Athens has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Mansfield struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.8. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Athens suffered a grim 9-2 defeat to Mansfield in their previous meeting back in April. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Mansfield's Alex Davis, who went 4-for-5 with three runs, three doubles, and an RBI. Now that Athens knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
