The Burlington Christian Academy Royals will venture away from home to take on the Grace Christian Crusaders at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Burlington Christian Academy will be coming into the contest with an undefeated record on the line.
Burlington Christian Academy's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. Everything went their way against Statesville Christian as Burlington Christian Academy made off with a 12-0 victory. The result was nothing new for the Royals, who have now won five games by ten runs or more so far this season.
Gib Wirt made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out nine over four innings pitched. Wirt was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. He also put up a double, which was his first of the season.
In other batting news, Burlington Christian Academy got a massive performance out of Cooper Kelly, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs, one triple, and one double. That triple was Kelly's first of the season. Another player making a difference was Mark Primm, who went 1-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and one stolen base.
Burlington Christian Academy kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 14 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least ten hits in seven consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Grace Christian was able to grind out a solid win over Highland on Saturday, taking the game 6-3.
Like Burlington Christian Academy, Grace Christian also got a great game from a two-way player: Luke Roupe. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out six over seven innings pitched. Roupe has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up a single earned run in three consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with one home run, two runs, and one stolen base.
In other batting news, Matt Murchison and Caleb Ellis did most of the damage at the plate: Murchison scored three runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3, while Ellis went 1-for-4 with one home run and three RBI. That's the most RBI Ellis has posted since back in April of 2024.
Burlington Christian Academy pushed their record up to 8-0 with the victory, which was their sixth straight on the road. As for Grace Christian, their record now sits at 7-1.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Monday. Burlington Christian Academy hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 1.2 home runs per game. However, it's not like Grace Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.9 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Burlington Christian Academy suffered a grim 7-0 defeat to Grace Christian when the teams last played back in March of 2024. Can Burlington Christian Academy avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
