While IMG Academy Royal's victory against Sports Leadership & Management wasn't quite the blowout they won the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The IMG Academy Royal Ascenders sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-4 win over the Sports Leadership & Management Spartans on Friday. Five seems to be a good number for the Ascenders as the team scooped up a victory with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Richie Alvarez looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Michael Pino, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances. He is also on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now stole at least one in each of the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Jaxson Vassallo, who scored a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Ascenders
| 02/28/25 vs Sports Leadership & Management | 5-4 |
| 02/26/25 vs Inspiration Academy | 5-3 |
| 02/21/25 vs Bonita Springs | 2-1 |
The win (which was IMG Academy Royal's third in a row) raised their record to 5-2. They've had to fight for that success though, as they only beat their opponents by an average of 1.33 runs across that stretch. As for Sports Leadership & Management, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 2-7.
Coming up, IMG Academy Royal will welcome Carrollwood Day at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The last three games IMG Academy Royal has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one. As for Sports Leadership & Management, they will square off against Tampa Catholic at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Tampa Catholic will roll in looking for their tenth straight victory, something Sports Leadership & Management surely won't give up without a fight.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
