Baseball Preview: Foundation Academy Lions vs. Umatilla Bulldogs
The Foundation Academy Lions will head out on the road to square off against the Umatilla Bulldogs at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (Foundation Academy: 2.4, Umatilla: 3.5) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Foundation Academy stacked a 13th blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Lake Highland Prep as Foundation Academy made off with a 10-3 victory. Winning may never get old, but Foundation Academy sure is getting used to it with their fourth in a row.
Ethan Pate and Justin Salvati made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Pate pitched five innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off five hits. Meanwhile, Salvati tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Pate has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive pitching appearances. At bat, Pate scored a run while going 1-for-3, while Salvati scored a run while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Matthew Hazelwood, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Meanwhile, it was a hard-fought matchup, but Umatilla had to settle for a 7-5 loss against Wekiva on Monday. Umatilla has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Umatilla also got a good showing from Jace Carlson, who tossed 3.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits.
At the plate, Gavin Touchton was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Trey Craft was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Even though they lost, Umatilla kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 15 hits. That's the most hits they've managed all season.
Foundation Academy's win bumped their record up to 21-3. As for Umatilla, their defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 15-7.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Foundation Academy has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Umatilla struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.2. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
