Baseball Preview: Northland Prep Academy Spartans vs. Phoenix Christian Cougars
Northland Prep Academy has enjoyed the comforts of home their last four games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will challenge the Phoenix Christian Cougars at 3:45 p.m. on Monday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Northland Prep Academy's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Saturday. They put the hurt on Pinon with a sharp 16-0 win.
Jordan Donahue made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Donahue has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive pitching appearances. Donahue was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and a triple.
In other batting news, Northland Prep Academy got a massive performance out of Michael Cary, who went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI. Another player making a difference was Sawyer Gesten, who scored three runs while going 4-for-4.
Meanwhile, Phoenix Christian's hitters rose to the challenge against a Spartans pitching crew that boasted an average of only 3.82 points allowed on Friday. Phoenix Christian blew past Gilbert Classical Academy 10-0. The victory was nothing new for Phoenix Christian as they're now sitting on three straight.
Phoenix Christian saw eight different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Oliver Sierra, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Kevin Palafox was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 1-for-4.
Northland Prep Academy pushed their record up to 7-8 with that win, which was their third straight at home. As for Phoenix Christian, their record is now 22-2.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Northland Prep Academy has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Phoenix Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.6. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Northland Prep Academy might still be hurting after the 18-1 defeat they got from Phoenix Christian in their previous meeting on Wednesday. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Palafox, who struck out seven batters over three innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits (and only one walk). Now that Northland Prep Academy knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
