Baseball Game Preview: Hillcrest Rams vs. J.L. Mann Patriots

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Previous Games

04/01/25 - Home	4-3 W
04/05/24 - Home	4-2 W
04/04/24 - Away	1-11 L
04/01/24 - Home	10-1 W
04/13/23 - Away	14-4 W
+ 5 more games

Hillcrest is 8-2 against J.L. Mann since April of 2021 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Rams will head out to challenge the Patriots at 6:30 p.m.

Hillcrest came into their game on Wednesday off a hard-fought close win, but unfortunately suffered a serious change of fortune. They came up short against Clover, falling 7-0. The matchup marked the first time this year in which the Rams were not able to get on the board.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for J.L. Mann, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Tuesday. They won by a run and slipped past Fountain Inn 3-2.

Matthew McAdams looked comfortable as he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. What's more, he posted four strikeouts, the most he's had since back in March.

On the hitting side, J.L. Mann's win was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Griffin King, who scored a run while going 1-for-4. Wyatt Ward also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.

J.L. Mann has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven games. That's provided a nice bump to their 9-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Hillcrest, they dropped their record down to 7-8 with the defeat, which was their fourth straight on the road.

Hillcrest came out on top in a nail-biter against J.L. Mann when the teams last played on Tuesday, sneaking past 4-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Rams since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.