The Burlington Christian Academy Royals will face off against the Freedom Christian Academy Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Burlington Christian Academy sitting on 14 straight wins and Freedom Christian Academy on six.
Burlington Christian Academy is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They were the clear victors by an 11-1 margin over Westchester Country Day. Considering the Royals have won 14 matches by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Will Grubb spent all six innings played on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on four hits and racked up seven Ks. He has been consistent for a while: he hasn't given up more than two walks in nine consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Gib Wirt and Cooper Kelly did most of the damage at the plate: Wirt went 2-for-3 with three runs and one double, while Kelly went 1-for-2 with two runs, two RBI, and one double. Another player making a difference was Davis Phillips, who went 1-for-3 with two runs, two RBI, and one double.
Meanwhile, it was close, but on Wednesday Freedom Christian Academy sidestepped Faith Christian for an 8-6 victory. That's two games straight that Freedom Christian Academy has won by exactly two runs.
Graysen Stafford was incredible, going 1-for-3 with one home run, three runs, and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Christian Alleman, who went 1-for-3 with three stolen bases and one run.
Burlington Christian Academy's win was their 15th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 22-1. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.5 runs over those games. As for Freedom Christian Academy, their win bumped their record up to 22-5.
Both Burlington Christian Academy and Freedom Christian Academy just can't seem to miss. The Royals have been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 10.9 hits per game. However, it's not like Freedom Christian Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 4.7 hits. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Burlington Christian Academy was able to grind out a solid victory over Freedom Christian Academy in their previous matchup back in April, winning 7-2. Will the Royals repeat their success, or do the Patriots have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
