Baseball Game Preview: Summit Academy Knights vs. Homer-Center Wildcats

The Summit Academy Knights will head out on the road to challenge the Homer-Center Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. Summit Academy has given up an average of 15.5 runs per game this season, but Saturday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Summit Academy fell victim to Blacklick Valley and their airtight pitching crew on Friday. They lost 20-0 to the Vikings. The Knights have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Meanwhile, Homer-Center came tearing into Friday's matchup with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.8 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They put the hurt on the Comets with a sharp 12-2 victory. That's two games straight that the Wildcats have won by exactly ten runs.

Nash Budner made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out seven batters over four innings while giving up just two earned runs off one hit. Budner was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one stolen base and two RBI. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times he's played.

In other batting news, Homer-Center got a massive performance out of Dom Shimko, who got on base in three of his five plate appearances with two runs, two RBI, and one double. That double was Shimko's first of the season. Nathan Birchall was another key player, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with two RBI and one run.

Homer-Center always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .658. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Penns Manor only posted an OBP of .346.

Homer-Center's win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-3. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 4.0 runs on average over those games. As for Summit Academy, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-11.