The Flatirons Academy Bison will take on the Nucla Mustangs at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Flatirons Academy sitting on three straight wins and Nucla on four.
Flatirons Academy is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Saturday. They were the clear victors by a 12-2 margin over Eads. Considering the Bison have won 14 games by more than five runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
Mateo Pope made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out eight batters over five innings while giving up just two earned runs off six hits (and not a single walk). He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in April.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Braxton Kelley, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with three stolen bases, three runs, and two RBI. Those three stolen bases gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Dillon Sauer, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
Flatirons Academy always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .593. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Eads only posted an OBP of .316.
Meanwhile, Nucla earned a 13-10 victory over Peetz on Saturday.
Like Flatirons Academy, Nucla also got a great game from a two-way player: Jackson McCabe. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out seven batters over 4.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and four unearned) runs off five hits. McCabe has become a key player for Nucla: the team is undefeated when he allows at most one earned run, but 6-9 otherwise. McCabe was also big at the plate, getting on base in all five of his plate appearances with one stolen base.
In other batting news, Nucla let Cole Bray and Brycen Rummel run wild. Bray got on base in three of his five plate appearances with one home run, four RBI, and two runs, while Rummel went 2-for-4 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. Nucla is 8-2 when Rummel posts two or more runs, but 5-7 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Daniel Zunich, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two runs and one RBI.
Flatirons Academy's win bumped their record up to 17-3. As for Nucla, their victory bumped their record up to 13-9.
Nucla's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Flatirons Academy has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 10.1 hits per game. It's a different story for Nucla, though, as they've been averaging 10.1 hits. Given Flatirons Academy's sizable advantage in that area, the Mustangs will need to find a way to close that gap.
Flatirons Academy got the 'W' in their previous meeting back in May of 2023 against Nucla by a conclusive 9-0 score. Will the Bison repeat their success, or do the Mustangs have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
