Baseball Game Preview: Freedom Patriots vs. South Caldwell Spartans

Freedom hasn't had much luck against South Caldwell recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Freedom Patriots will be playing at home against the South Caldwell Spartans at 6:30 p.m. Freedom is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8 runs per game this season.

Freedom lost a heartbreaker the last time they played Shelby, but it's fair to say they got their revenge given the result of Wednesday's game. Freedom was the clear victors by an 11-3 margin over Shelby on Wednesday. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Patriots considering their two-run performance the contest before.

KYLE SELF made a splash no matter where he played. He didn't allow a single earned run while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Furthermore, he didn't allow a single earned run, the first time he has blanked an opponent since back in March of 2024. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with two RBI.

ZACH CARSON

Runs

03/19/25 @ Shelby	3
03/04/25 vs Avery County	3
03/10/25 @ Avery County	2
03/07/25 vs Mitchell	2
02/25/25 @ Patton	2
+ 4 more games

In other batting news, Freedom let KADEN MICHAELS and ZACH CARSON run wild. MICHAELS went 2-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI, while CARSON scored three runs while going 2-for-4. CARSON has become a key player for Freedom: the team is 4-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 2-3 otherwise. Another player making a difference was CAM UREN, who scored two runs while going 2-for-4.

Freedom kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post 11 or more hits.

Meanwhile, South Caldwell put another one in the bag on Wednesday to keep their perfect season alive. They came out on top against Kings Mountain by a score of 6-1.

South Caldwell pushed their record up to 8-0 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Freedom, their win bumped their record up to 6-4.

Freedom suffered a grim 16-6 defeat to South Caldwell when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Can Freedom avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.