The Hardee Wildcats will take on the IMG Academy Royal Ascenders at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Hardee 3.5, IMG Academy Royal 3.2) so any runs scored will be well earned.
On Thursday, Hardee didn't have quite enough to beat DeSoto County and fell 3-2. The Wildcats have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Hardee saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Cody Rieder, who went 1-for-2 with one RBI.
Meanwhile, after only two runs in their last matchup, IMG Academy Royal made sure to put some runs up on the board against Sunshine State Elite Academy on Wednesday. The Ascenders blew past Sunshine State Elite Academy 12-1. The Ascenders not only won on Wednesday, but they posted their biggest win since February 18th.
IMG Academy Royal also got a great performance from Josh Riordan as he pitched five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. Riordan has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks any time he's pitched this season.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Lawson Fenn, who went 2-for-4 with four RBI. Kanta Miyabe was another key player, scoring a run while going 1-for-1.
IMG Academy Royal always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .606. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Hardee's loss dropped their record down to 8-10. As for IMG Academy Royal, their win bumped their record up to 12-5.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
