Baseball Preview: Merit Preparatory Academy Knights vs. Draper APA Eagles
The Merit Preparatory Academy Knights will head out to square off against the Draper APA Eagles at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Merit Preparatory Academy is no doubt hoping to put an end to a three-game streak of away losses.
Merit Preparatory Academy will head into Tuesday's match out to bounce back: they came back down to earth on Tuesday after soaring to a 17-run game in their last game. They fell just short of Utah Military Academy - Hill Field by a score of 7-5.
Meanwhile, Draper APA waltzed into their contest on Monday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They were the clear victor by a 16-5 margin over the Lions. Considering the Eagles have won seven matchups by more than eight runs this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.
Kason Crafts was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he pitched 2.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive pitching appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing four bases while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, Ziek Van Dijk and Hayden Caldwell did most of the damage at the plate: Van Dijk went 2-for-3 with three stolen bases, four RBI, and four RBI, while Caldwell scored three runs and stole four bases while going 2-for-2. Van Dijk has been hot recently, having posted three or more stolen bases the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Oliver Wagner, who scored two runs and stole three bases while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Draper APA always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .688. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Intermountain Christian only posted an OBP of .517.
Merit Preparatory Academy's loss dropped their record down to 3-9. As for Draper APA, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight matches, which provided a nice bump to their 8-6-1 record this season.
Merit Preparatory Academy might still be hurting after the 11-2 defeat they got from Draper APA in their previous matchup last Tuesday. Can Merit Preparatory Academy avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
