Baseball Preview: Eastmoor Academy Warriors vs. Whitehall-Yearling Rams
Eastmoor Academy is 0-4 against Whitehall-Yearling since March of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. The Eastmoor Academy Warriors will be playing at home against the Whitehall-Yearling Rams at 12:00 p.m. Eastmoor Academy knows how to get runs on the board -- the team has finished with flashy run totals in its past 13 matches -- so hopefully Whitehall-Yearling likes a good challenge.
Eastmoor Academy can now show off 14 landslide victories after their most recent contest on Friday. They blew past Independence 14-4.
LaBron Williams spent all five innings played on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered four earned runs on seven hits and racked up seven Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in four consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Meechie Haley, who scored four runs and stole three bases while getting on base in four of his seven plate appearances. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times he's played. Another player making a difference was Mario Blount, who scored a run and stole two bases while getting on base in four of his seven plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Whitehall-Yearling had to endure a 12-game losing streak, but that streak is no more. They were the clear victor by a 20-10 margin over Madison Christian on Tuesday. Whitehall-Yearling's hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Jacob Leach was a standout: he scored three runs and stole seven bases while going 3-for-4. Gavin Strickler was another key contributor, going 2-for-4 with four stolen bases, three runs, and four RBI.
Eastmoor Academy's win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-3. As for Whitehall-Yearling, their victory ended a six-game drought at home and bumped them up to 4-13.
Whitehall-Yearling's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Eastmoor Academy has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 9 hits per game. It's a different story for Whitehall-Yearling, though, as they've been averaging 10.5. Given Eastmoor Academy's sizable advantage in that area, Whitehall-Yearling will need to find a way to close that gap.
Eastmoor Academy might still be hurting after the 14-0 loss they got from Whitehall-Yearling when the teams last played back in April. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Whitehall-Yearling's Max Apple, who kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. Now that Eastmoor Academy knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
