The Jackson-Reed Tigers are taking a road trip to take on the Highland Hawks at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Highland took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Jackson-Reed, who comes in off a win.
Jackson-Reed is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another highly-ranked state team: Gilman, who was ranked tenth in their home state at the time (Jackson-Reed was ranked second). Jackson-Reed came out on top in a nail-biter against Gilman on Tuesday, sneaking past 6-4. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Tigers.
Zander Leckszas
| 03/14/25 @ St. John's | 2 |
| 03/18/25 vs Gilman | 1 |
| 03/07/25 @ Bishop McNamara | 1 |
Jackson-Reed got a great performance from Zander Leckszas as he didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched. Leckszas also tossed a walk, which is notable because Jackson-Reed is undefeated when he allows at most one walk, but 1-2 otherwise.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Evan Rosario, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, two stolen bases, and two runs. That home run marked the first that he launched this season. Ben Shapiro was another key player, scoring a run and stealing Three bases. while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, after soaring to 16 runs the game before, Highland was a bit more limited in their contest on Wednesday. They fell just short of Collegiate by a score of 3-1. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Hawks have suffered since April 5, 2024.
Weston Lillard was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out nine batters over six innings while giving up just two earned runs off three hits. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in strikeouts.
On the hitting side, Highland saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Joey Rogers, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Jackson-Reed's win was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-2. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Highland, they suffered their first home defeat, dropping their record down to 5-3.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Thursday as neither team is afraid to steal. Jackson-Reed has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 5 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Highland struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.2 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Jackson-Reed beat Highland 9-6 when the teams last played back in May of 2022. Will Jackson-Reed repeat their success, or does Highland have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
