Baseball Game Preview: Apex Friendship Patriots vs. Willow Spring Storm

The Apex Friendship Patriots will challenge the Willow Spring Storm at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Apex Friendship is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.9 runs per game this season.

Last Thursday, Apex Friendship earned a 10-5 victory over Panther Creek. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Patriots.

Tyler Komorner looked comfortable as he struck out six batters over three innings while giving up just one earned run but no hits. He has been consistent : he hasn't given up more than one hit in six consecutive appearances.

Connor Sousa

Doubles (Career)

04/10/25 @ Panther Creek	2
03/28/25 vs Green Hope	1
03/27/25 vs Apex	1
03/21/25 @ Green Hope	1
03/13/25 vs Middle Creek	1

At the plate, Apex Friendship got a massive performance out of Connor Sousa, who scored three runs while going 2-for-2. The dominant performance also gave Sousa a new career-high in doubles (two). Ajay Rychcik was another key player, going a perfect 3-for-3 with four RBI, one run, and one double.

Meanwhile, Willow Spring didn't have quite enough to beat Rolesville on Wednesday and fell 3-2. The Storm have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Willow Spring saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Gio Tafalla, who went 2-for-3 with one double and one RBI.

Apex Friendship's win bumped their record up to 12-6. As for Willow Spring, their loss dropped their record down to 7-5.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Apex Friendship has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Willow Spring struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.