Baseball Recap: Sterling Finds Playoff Glory Versus the Academy

Tigers

Previous Games

05/16/25 vs The Academy	3-2
05/13/25 vs Crowley County	6-0
05/10/25 @ Strasburg	16-0
05/08/25 vs Resurrection Christian	2-1
05/05/25 @ Arvada	15-5
+ 2 more games

It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Sterling had no problem doing just that on Friday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 3-2 win over The Academy Wildcats. The victory was familiar territory for the Tigers, who have now won seven games in a row.

Memphis Dempcy made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out six batters over 4.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off two hits. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in May of 2024. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBI.

In other pitching news, Cooper Burton looked comfortable as he tossed 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances.

Back at the plate, the team relied heavily on Aiden Ortega, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with two stolen bases and three runs. Those three runs gave him a new career-high.

Sterling's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-4. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.8 runs on average over those games. As for The Academy, they are on a six-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 6-18.

As of now, neither Sterling nor the Wildcats have any future games scheduled.