The Jesuit Tigers will square off against The First Academy Royals at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Jesuit 2.5, The First Academy 3.3) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Jesuit is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Florida's top teams: Stoneman Douglas, who was ranked second at the time (Jesuit was ranked sixth). Jesuit fell 7-4 to Stoneman Douglas on Tuesday.
Jesuit got a good showing from Hector Rivera, who tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. That's the fewest hits Rivera has allowed since March 1st.
On the hitting side, Cannon Murtagh was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring two runs while going 3-for-5. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaden Waechter, who went 1-for-2 with two RBI.
Meanwhile, The First Academy waltzed into their matchup on Monday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They put the hurt on the Warriors with a sharp 11-3 victory. The result was nothing new for the Royals, who have now won 11 games by six runs or more so far this season.
Josh Garcia looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up a single earned run in three consecutive appearances.
At the plate, The First Academy got a massive performance out of Remo Indomenico, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4. Indomenico has been hot, having posted at least one stolen base the last five times he's played. Max Simmons was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-4.
The First Academy always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .525. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Jupiter only posted an OBP of .296.
The First Academy pushed their record up to 14-3 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.0 runs over those games. As for Jesuit, their loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 13-5.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Jesuit hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like The First Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.9 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
