The Animo Leadership Aztec Eagles will square off against the Shalhevet Firehawks at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. Animo Leadership is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.1 runs per game this season.
Having struggled with six losses in a row, Animo Leadership turned things around against Lennox Academy on Tuesday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Panthers a 3-0 shutout.
Andrew Lopez was excellent, scoring a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Axel Serrano, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Shalhevet made easy work of Compton Early College on Thursday and carried off a 19-6 victory. The Firehawks have beaten the Rising Phoenix the last three times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Rising Phoenix has come to flipping the script.
Adam Sandler made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out eight batters over 4.2 innings while giving up just two earned (and four unearned) runs off four hits. Those eight strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing four bases while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, Liam Putnam was a standout: he scored four runs while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Ari Elad was another key player, scoring four runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
Animo Leadership's win bumped their record up to 8-12. As for Shalhevet, their victory bumped their record up to 2-7.
Shalhevet's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Animo Leadership hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .357. It's a different story for Shalhevet, though, as they've only averaged .235. Will they be able to contain Animo Leadership's hitters? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
