Baseball Preview: Liberty Baptist Academy Knights vs. Indian Springs Thunderbirds
Liberty Baptist Academy is 0-5 against Indian Springs since March of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Liberty Baptist Academy Knights are on the road again to play the Indian Springs Thunderbirds at 1:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Tuesday, Liberty Baptist Academy got the win against Sandy Valley by a conclusive 16-1.
Noah McConnell made a big impact no matter where he played. He didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out seven over four innings pitched. McConnell has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in eight consecutive pitching appearances. McConnell was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with a home run, four runs, and four RBI.
In other batting news, Bruce Delgado was a standout: he scored three runs while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Dominic Giannini, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a double.
Meanwhile, Indian Springs waltzed into their game on Friday with 11 straight wins... but they left with 12. They blew past the Muckers 15-5. 15 seems to be a good number for Indian Springs as the team scooped up a victory with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Like Liberty Baptist Academy, Indian Springs also got a great game from a two-way player: Jacob Gourley. On the mound, he struck out 12 batters over 4.1 innings while giving up four earned runs off six hits (and not a single walk). Gourley was also big at the plate, going 3-for-5 with four RBI and a double.
In other batting news, Carlos Aviles and Matthew DiGregorio did most of the damage at the plate: Aviles scored three runs and stole three bases while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances, while DiGregorio scored a run and stole two bases while going 2-for-4. Cole Concoby was another key contributor, scoring two runs while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.
The win got Liberty Baptist Academy back to even at 7-7. As for Indian Springs, they pushed their record up to 15-1 with that victory, which was their tenth straight on the road.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Liberty Baptist Academy has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 11.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Indian Springs struggles in that department as they've been averaging 10.8. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Liberty Baptist Academy might still be hurting after the 13-4 loss they got from Indian Springs in their previous matchup back in March. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Gourley, who didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out 11 over 4.1 innings pitched. Now that Liberty Baptist Academy knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
