The Tonopah Muckers will face off against the Liberty Baptist Academy Knights at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. Tonopah is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 9.5 runs per game this season.
Tonopah is probably headed into the game with a chip on their shoulder considering Pahranagat Valley just ended the team's five-game winning streak on Friday. They came up short against the Panthers, falling 19-2. Having soared to a lofty 21 runs in the game before, the Muckers couldn't push the score so high this time.
Meanwhile, Liberty Baptist Academy waltzed into their matchup on Thursday with 11 straight wins... but they left with 12. They put the hurt on the Saints with a sharp 18-1 victory. Considering the Knights have won 15 contests by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
The team relied heavily on Dominic Giannini, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI, two runs, and two doubles. Those two doubles gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Aiden Schmitz, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs and two RBI.
Liberty Baptist Academy was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .476. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .346 or higher in 11 consecutive games.
Liberty Baptist Academy's win was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 17-4. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Tonopah, their loss dropped their record down to 15-6.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Thursday as neither team is afraid to steal. Tonopah has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 9 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Liberty Baptist Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5.1 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Tonopah suffered a grim 13-2 defeat to Liberty Baptist Academy in their previous meeting back in March of 2022. Can the Muckers 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
