The Highland Hawks will face off against the Washington Patriots at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Highland 3.2, Washington 3.5) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Highland is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Virginia's top teams: Miller School of Albemarle, who was ranked sixth at the time (Highland was ranked tenth). The Hawks fell 6-2 to the Mavericks on Tuesday. The Hawks' loss continues a trend for the team, making it three in a row.
Highland saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Danny Farrell, who went 2-for-3 with one run. Benjy Cardone was another, going 2-for-3 with one run.
Meanwhile, Washington made easy work of Berkeley Springs on Saturday and carried off an 11-1 victory. Considering the Patriots have won seven contests by more than five runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
Washington let Marshall Derrick and Connor Smith run wild. Derrick went a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs, one stolen base, and two RBI, while Smith went a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs, one triple, and one stolen base. Those three runs gave Derrick a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Brayden Edwards, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI and one run.
Washington always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .552. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Berkeley Springs only posted an OBP of .316.
Washington's win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 13-8-1. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Highland, their defeat dropped their record down to 23-8.
Both Highland and Washington just can't seem to miss. The Hawks have been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 10.5 hits per game. However, it's not like Washington struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 5.4 hits. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Highland took their win against Washington in their previous meeting back in April of 2024 by a conclusive 11-0 score. Will the Hawks repeat their success, or do the Patriots have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
