The University School Preppers will head out to take on the North Royalton Bears at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. University School is coming into the game hot, having won their last four games.
On Thursday, University School made easy work of Cardinal Mooney and carried off a 7-1 victory. Considering the Preppers have won six matches by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Crew Bellan tossed a big game, tossing five innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run any time he's pitched this season.
At the plate, University School let Deacon Nelson and Cameron Ryan run wild. Nelson got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI, while Ryan went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Those two RBI gave Ryan a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Aaron Moss, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one RBI.
Meanwhile, North Royalton narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past Riverside 3-2. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Bears.
Joe Kinney looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits.
On the hitting side, North Royalton saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Sam Kortan, who went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Adi Parker also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
University School pushed their record up to 12-2 with the victory, which was their 18th straight at home dating back to last season. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.1 runs on average over those games. As for North Royalton, their record is now 5-3.
University School's speedy runners might be the difference in Saturday's contest. The Preppers have been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.1 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for North Royalton, though, as they've been averaging only 1.2 stolen bases. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will University School continue to outrun the ball? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
