Baseball Preview: The Academy Wildcats vs. Manual Thunderbolts
The Academy Wildcats will look to defend their home field on Thursday against the Manual Thunderbolts at 3:30 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (The Academy has three straight victories, Manual has 11 straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
On Tuesday, The Academy was able to grind out a solid win over Prospect Ridge Academy, taking the game 9-5.
Dylan Akers made a splash no matter where he played. He struck out 16 batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned (and three unearned) runs off six hits (and only one walk). Akers was also big at the plate, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while going 1-for-3. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now stolen at least one in the last four games he's played.
In other batting news, Zack Johnson was excellent, going 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Gabe Atencio, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and an RBI.
Manual lost 14-4 to SkyView Academy on Tuesday.
Andrew Hernandez was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 1-for-2. The team also got some help courtesy of Cartail Dickey, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances.
The Academy pushed their record up to 8-7 with that victory, which was their third straight at home. As for Manual, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-14.
The Academy took their win against Manual in their previous matchup back in May of 2023 by a conclusive 17-2. Will The Academy repeat their success, or does Manual have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
