Baseball Game Preview: Academy for Academic Excellence Knights vs. Twentynine Palms Wildcats

The Academy for Academic Excellence Knights will take on the Twentynine Palms Wildcats at 3:15 p.m. on Friday. Academy for Academic Excellence is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last ten games.

Academy for Academic Excellence is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They walked away with a 10-7 victory over Santiago.

Gavin Ripley

Runs Batted In (Career)

05/20/25 vs Santiago	5
04/25/25 vs Victor Valley Christian	4
04/08/25 @ Lucerne Valley	4
05/02/25 @ Silver Valley	3
04/29/25 vs Silver Valley	3

Gavin Ripley was incredible, going 2-for-4 with five RBI, one run, and one double. Those five RBI gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Conner Clancy, who went 1-for-4 with one stolen base and two RBI.

Meanwhile, Twentynine Palms had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 12 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They blew past Cobalt Institute of Math & Science Academy 10-4. Considering the Wildcats have won eight contests by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.

The team relied heavily on Anthony Escandon, who went 2-for-5 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. He has become a key player for Twentynine Palms: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 7-8 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Raul Ginez, who went 2-for-3 with one run and one double.

Academy for Academic Excellence's record now sits at 14-9. As for Twentynine Palms, their record is now 11-8.

The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. Academy for Academic Excellence has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.8 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Twentynine Palms struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 4.4 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.