Baseball Game Preview: Houston Academy Raiders vs. Ariton Purple Cats

The Houston Academy Raiders will head out to take on the Ariton Purple Cats at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Houston Academy is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.9 runs per game this season.

Last Tuesday, Houston Academy didn't have quite enough to beat Geneva and fell 6-5. That's two games in a row now that the Raiders have lost by just one run.

Cooper West

Runs Batted In (Career)

03/25/25 @ Geneva	4
02/18/25 vs Long	2
03/25/25 vs Geneva	1
03/14/25 @ Ashford	1
03/04/25 vs Pike County	1

Cooper West was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-3 with four RBI, one triple, and one stolen base. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Ty Morris, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3.

Meanwhile, Ariton came tearing into Wednesday's matchup with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 12 runs), and they left with even more momentum. Everything went their way against the Pioneers as they made off with a 12-1 win. Considering the Purple Cats have won 17 contests by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

Houston Academy's defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 8-11. As for Ariton, their victory bumped their record up to 21-4.

Houston Academy took their win against Ariton in their previous matchup back in April of 2023 by a conclusive 11-4. Does Houston Academy have another victory up their sleeve, or will Ariton turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.