Baseball Game Preview: Highland Hawks vs. Patriot Pioneers

The Highland Hawks will face off against the Patriot Pioneers at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Highland comes in on four and Patriot on six.

Highland is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Virginia's top teams: St. Christopher's, who was ranked 19th at the time (Highland was ranked 12th). The Hawks came out on top in a nail-biter against the Saints on Monday, sneaking past 7-5.

Matthew McCauley

Hits Against

04/21/25 vs St. Christopher's	2
04/12/25 vs Gainesville	2
04/09/25 @ Chantilly	2
04/02/25 vs Bishop O'Connell	0

Matthew McCauley looked comfortable as he tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two hits in four consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Christian Dart was excellent, going 1-for-3 with two runs, two RBI, and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Brooks Graham, who went 3-for-4 with two runs and one stolen base.

Highland kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least 12 hits in three consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Patriot). Everything went their way against Unity Reed two weeks ago as they made off with a 26-1 win. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest victory of the season.

Highland's win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 18-5. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.2 runs over those games. As for Patriot, their record now sits at 6-1.