The North Judson-San Pierre Bluejays will face off against the Culver Academies Eagles at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. North Judson-San Pierre is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.4 runs per game this season.
North Judson-San Pierre is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 11 runs on Saturday, they were much more limited against Culver Community on Saturday. They fell 6-2 to the Cavaliers.
Douglas Reed was cooking despite his team's loss, going 1-for-3 with one home run.
Meanwhile, Culver Academies waltzed into their game on Saturday with two straight wins... but they left with three. Everything went their way against the Trojans as they made off with a 17-1 win. Considering the Eagles have won 12 matchups by more than seven runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
Jak Chaney looked comfortable as he tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit.
At the plate, Culver Academies got a massive performance out of Max Grundberg, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with four runs, one triple, and one double. Those four runs gave Grundberg a new career-high. Preston Jessen was another key player, going a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI, two runs, and one triple.
Culver Academies always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .676. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in three consecutive contests.
Culver Academies pushed their record up to 15-3 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for North Judson-San Pierre, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four games. That's put a noticeable dent in their 13-12 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Wednesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. North Judson-San Pierre has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Culver Academies struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.8 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
North Judson-San Pierre suffered a grim 15-4 defeat to Culver Academies in their previous meeting back in May of 2023. Can the Bluejays avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
