Preview: Broughton Capitals vs. Athens Drive Jaguars
The Broughton Capitals will be playing in front of their home fans against the Athens Drive Jaguars at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Wednesday, Broughton was able to grind out a solid victory over Fuquay - Varina, taking the game 7-2. The win made it back-to-back victories for Broughton.
Broughton got a great performance from Mason Hawkins as he didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits over five innings pitched.
At the plate, Broughton let Matthew Vannoy and Patrick Maloney loose on the outfield. Vannoy got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases, while Maloney got on base in all four of his plate appearances with a double.
Meanwhile, Athens Drive scored the most runs they've had all season to find success on Wednesday. They blew past East Chapel Hill 12-2. Considering Athens Drive has won three matchups by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Athens Drive also got a great performance from Elliott Essic as he struck out seven batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off six hits (and only one walk). Essic has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks every time he's pitched this season.
On the hitting side, Troy Daniels and Nathan Bunch did most of the damage at the plate: Daniels went 3-for-3 with four RBI, two runs, and a triple, while Bunch scored three runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Hansel Diaz, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.
Broughton has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season. As for Athens Drive, their win bumped their record up to 6-3-1.
Broughton beat Athens Drive 5-1 in their previous meeting on Monday. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Athens Drive's Jack Snipes, who didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out six over 5.1 innings pitched. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Broughton still be able to contain Snipes? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
