Baseball Game Preview: Athens Drive Jaguars vs. Cary Imps

The Athens Drive Jaguars will square off against the Cary Imps at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Athens Drive is coming into the match on a five-game losing streak.

On Thursday, Athens Drive came up short against Leesville Road and fell 6-2.

Athens Drive saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Anderson Hanes, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Austin Mantz also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Cary). They came out on top against Knightdale on Wednesday by a score of 11-0 (the very same score they lost by in their prior game). The high-scoring effort was just what the Imps needed considering they were shut out in their previous game.

Avery Lin and Skylan Joyner were a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Lin pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits. Meanwhile, Joyner pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Cary is 2-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 2-8 otherwise. At the plate, Lin scored a run while going 1-for-2, while Joyner scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4.

In other batting news, Gavin Mathis and Andrew Mohler did most of the damage at the plate: Mathis went 3-for-4 with four RBI and two doubles, while Mohler scored a run while going 3-for-4. Those two doubles gave Mathis a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Owen Green, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 2-for-5.

Cary was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .400. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.

Athens Drive's loss dropped their record down to 10-9. As for Cary, the victory snapped their losing streak at three games and leaves them with a 4-9 record.

Athens Drive couldn't quite get it done against Cary when the teams last played back in February of 2024 as they fell 9-4. Can the Jaguars avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.