The United Christian Academy Crusaders are taking a road trip to challenge the Smith Mountain Lake Christian Academy Ospreys at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.
United Christian Academy is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They came out on top against Ridgeview Christian by a score of 10-6. The game was the first time United Christian Academy has beaten Ridgeview Christian on their field since March 30, 2023.
Meanwhile, Smith Mountain Lake Christian Academy had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 15.3 runs) and they went ahead and made it five last Friday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Tornadoes a 21-0 shutout. Considering the Ospreys have won 11 contests by more than six runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Ryan Canipe made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only one hit while striking out 13 over five innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in four consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with one triple and one RBI.
In other batting news, Carter Garland was a standout: he went 1-for-2 with one home run, two stolen bases, and three runs. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in RBI (four). Another player making a difference was Micah Payne, who went 2-for-3 with three runs, three RBI, and two doubles.
Smith Mountain Lake Christian Academy was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .500. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .469 or higher in five consecutive games.
Smith Mountain Lake Christian Academy's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 12-6. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.3 runs on average over those games. As for United Christian Academy, their win ended a five-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 4-4.
United Christian Academy couldn't quite finish off Smith Mountain Lake Christian Academy when the teams last played back in March of 2022 and fell 4-2. Can the Crusaders avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
