Baseball Game Preview: Atlantic Shores Christian Seahawks vs. Highland Hawks

Atlantic Shores Christian is on a four-game streak of home wins, while Highland is on a five-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Seahawks will host the Hawks at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Atlantic Shores Christian 3.2, Highland 2.8) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Atlantic Shores Christian is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Virginia's top teams: Greenbrier Christian Academy, who was ranked seventh at the time (Atlantic Shores Christian was ranked 24th). The Seahawks sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 9-8 win over the Gators on Tuesday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Seahawks have posted since March 24th.

Meanwhile, Highland got themselves on the board against Potomac School on Wednesday, but Potomac School never followed suit. They put the hurt on the Panthers with a sharp 10-0 win. The Hawks might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 15 matches by six runs or more this season.

Matthew McCauley looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out nine over four innings pitched. Those nine strikeouts gave him a new career-high.

On the hitting side, Highland got a massive performance out of Danny Farrell, who went 1-for-2 with one home run and two runs. Justin Summers was another key player, going 1-for-2 with one home run and three RBI.

Highland was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .381. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .346 or higher in eight consecutive games.

Highland has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 17 of their last 18 contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 23-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.4 runs over those games. As for Atlantic Shores Christian, their win bumped their record up to 19-6.

Atlantic Shores Christian came out on top in a nail-biter against Highland when the teams last played back in May of 2024, sneaking past 2-1. Will the Seahawks repeat their success, or do the Hawks have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.