Baseball Preview: Hozho Academy Wolves vs. Zuni Thunderbirds
The Hozho Academy Wolves will head out on the road to face off against the Zuni Thunderbirds at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Hozho Academy's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Saturday. They were the clear victor by a 13-0 margin over Jemez Valley. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Hozho Academy.
Hozho Academy got a massive performance out of Kaleb Bowannie, who scored two runs and stole three bases while going 2-for-3. Bowannie has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last five times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Brandon Bonaguidi, who scored three runs and stole two bases while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Zuni won against Laguna Acoma last Wednesday with 12 runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Friday. Zuni put the hurt on Northwest with a sharp 12-1 victory.
Robert Dewa and Tryrell Lesarlley made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Dewa pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Meanwhile, Lesarlley struck out six batters over three innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit (and not a single walk). At bat, Dewa scored a run and stole two bases while going 1-for-2, while Lesarlley scored a run while going 2-for-2.
In other batting news, Kole Eriacho was incredible, going 3-for-3 with three doubles, four RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Laquan Bowekaty, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, a triple, and two RBI.
Hozho Academy has been performing well recently as they've won 11 of their last 13 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-4 record this season. As for Zuni, their win bumped their record up to 12-8.
Zuni's pitching crew has a tough task ahead of them: Hozho Academy has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 9.1 hits per game. It's a different story for Zuni, though, as they've been averaging 8.7. Given Hozho Academy's sizable advantage in that area, Zuni will need to find a way to close that gap.
Hozho Academy came out on top in a nail-biter against Zuni in their previous meeting back in March, sneaking past 15-14. Will Hozho Academy repeat their success, or does Zuni have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
