The Friendship Christian Commanders will be playing in front of their home fans against the Upperman Bees at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the pair will really light up the scoreboard.
Friendship Christian entered their tilt with Pope John Paul II with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. Everything went their way against the Knights on Wednesday as they made off with a 12-5 victory.
Quin Long was a major factor no matter where he played. He struck out 11 batters over five innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off two hits. Long has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than nine strikeouts in three consecutive pitching appearances. Long was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBI.
Long wasn't the only one making solid contact as seven players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Adam Gordon, who went 2-for-3 with a home run, three runs, and two RBI. Cayden Law was another key contributor, scoring three runs.
Meanwhile, Upperman scored the most runs they've had all season to find success on Tuesday. They walked away with a 15-11 win over Stone Memorial. With that victory, Upperman brought their scoring average up to 7.2 runs per game.
Justin Fallon was a standout: he went 1-for-5 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Carson Shupe, who scored three runs while going 2-for-4.
Friendship Christian's win bumped their record up to 6-3. As for Upperman, they pushed their record up to 4-2 with that victory, which was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Friendship Christian has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Upperman struggles in that department as they've been averaging 10 per game. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Friendship Christian couldn't quite finish off Upperman when the teams last played back in April of 2023 and fell 6-4. Can Friendship Christian avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
