Baseball Game Preview: Bessemer Academy Rebels vs. Evangel Christian Lightning

vs

Previous Games

02/28/25 - Home	3-13 L
02/17/24 - Home	9-0 W
03/30/23 - Home	1-5 L
02/24/23 - Neutral	1-10 L
04/04/22 - Home	8-3 W
+ 5 more games

Bessemer Academy and Evangel Christian are an even 5-5 against one another since March of 2020, but likely not for long. The Rebels will head out to face off against the Lightning at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

Tuesday just wasn't the day for Bessemer Academy's offense. They came up short against Edgewood Academy on Tuesday, falling 10-0. Rebels fans who chose to attend the game sure picked the wrong one: it was the first time the team's lost against the Wildcats since on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Evangel Christian had already won ten in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.9 runs) and they went ahead and made it 11 on Thursday. They put the hurt on the Warriors with a sharp 10-1 win. Considering the Lightning have won 12 matches by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.

Evangel Christian let ZAC GROSSMANN and TREY HOPE run wild. GROSSMANN scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4, while HOPE scored three runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3. The dominant performance also gave GROSSMANN a new career-high in doubles (three). Another player making a difference was CALEB CRANFORD, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one double, and one RBI.

Evangel Christian always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .564. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Tuscaloosa Home Educators only posted an OBP of .286.

Evangel Christian's victory was their 14th straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 20-1. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.9 runs over those games. As for Bessemer Academy, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-4.

Bessemer Academy suffered a grim 13-3 defeat to Evangel Christian in their previous meeting back in February. Can the Rebels avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.