Baseball Game Preview: Avon Park Red Devils vs. IMG Academy Blue Ascenders

By Team Reports Mar 9, 2025, 10:26pm

Baseball Preview: Avon Park Red Devils vs. IMG Academy Blue Ascenders

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Red Devils

Runs

03/06/25 @ Lake Wales2
03/04/25 @ Sebring1
02/28/25 @ Okeechobee3
02/27/25 vs DeSoto County10
02/25/25 @ Lake Placid3
+ 5 more games

The Avon Park Red Devils will take on the IMG Academy Blue Ascenders in a tournament on Tuesday. Avon Park is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.1 runs per game this season.

The home team had won the previous three meetings between Avon Park and Lake Wales, and Lake Wales kept the tradition alive. Avon Park fell just short of Lake Wales by a score of 3-2 on Thursday.

Avon Park saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Maddox Pollitt, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3. That stolen base marked the first that Pollitt snagged this season.

Meanwhile, IMG Academy Blue never let their opponents score on Tuesday. They walked away with a 4-0 win over Inspiration Academy Red. While the Ascenders didn't have the best season last year (they finished 8-15-1), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

Carson Flanagan tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances.

At the plate, IMG Academy Blue let Brennan Prendergast and Harry Friedner run wild. Prendergast scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3, while Friedner scored a run while going 2-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Kapono Kaha'i, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.

The victory made it two in a row for IMG Academy Blue and bumps their season record up to 5-2. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.5 runs over those games. As for Avon Park, their loss dropped their record down to 8-2.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Avon Park has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like IMG Academy Blue struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Avon Park beat IMG Academy Blue 6-1 when the teams last played back in April of 2021. The rematch might be a little tougher for Avon Park since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps