Baseball Game Preview: Braden River Pirates vs. IMG Academy Blue Ascenders

The Braden River Pirates will venture away from home to challenge the IMG Academy Blue Ascenders at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.

Braden River is probably headed into the game with a chip on their shoulder considering IMG Academy Gray just ended the team's four-game winning streak on Thursday. They took a 5-2 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Ascenders. Having soared to a lofty ten runs in the game before, the Pirates couldn't push the score so high this time.

Luke Duffy

Runs (Career)

03/20/25 @ IMG Academy Gray	2
03/18/25 @ Out-of-Door Academy	1
03/13/25 vs Florida State University High School	1
02/27/25 @ Parrish Community	1
02/26/25 vs Lakewood Ranch	1

Luke Duffy made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and scored two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in runs.

Meanwhile, IMG Academy Blue didn't have quite enough to beat Foundation Academy on Thursday and fell 7-6.

Brennan Prendergast was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring a run while going 3-for-4. Destin Faile also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.

IMG Academy Blue has been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 6-6 record this season. Braden River's defeat dropped their record down to 7-7.

Braden River came up short against IMG Academy Blue in their previous meeting back in March of 2022, falling 3-0. Can Braden River avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.