Baseball Game Preview: Falls Lake Firebirds vs. East Wake Academy Eagles

The Falls Lake Firebirds will square off against the East Wake Academy Eagles at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

On Wednesday, Falls Lake got the win against NCSSM: Durham by a conclusive 15-1. The victory continues a trend for the Firebirds in their matchups with the Unicorns: they've now won eight in a row.

Meanwhile, East Wake Academy came tearing into Tuesday's game with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 11 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They blew past the Firebirds 13-3. That's two games straight that the Eagles have won by exactly ten runs.

Mason Brantley tossed a big game, striking out seven batters over five innings while giving up three earned runs off three hits (and only one walk).

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Dexter Benton, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with three stolen bases, four RBI, and two runs. Those three stolen bases gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Jordan Fuentes, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with four RBI and one run.

East Wake Academy always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .562. That was just more of the same: they've now posted an OBP of .500 or higher in six consecutive contests.

East Wake Academy's win was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-3. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 14.7 runs over those games. As for Falls Lake, the win got them back to even at 10-10.

Falls Lake suffered a grim 13-3 defeat to East Wake Academy in their previous meeting on Tuesday. Will the Firebirds have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.