The Academy of the Holy Names Jaguars will square off against the Dunedin Falcons at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Academy of the Holy Names comes in on seven and Dunedin on six.
Academy of the Holy Names is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They never let McKeel Academy get on the board and left with a 4-0 victory. Give the Jaguars' pitching crew some credit: that's the team's third straight shutout.
Not much got past Taylor Williams, who gave up just six hits to keep McKeel Academy off the board. Williams has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up a single earned run in four consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Academy of the Holy Names let Kacey Scott and Ava LaBarbera run wild. Scott went 1-for-3 with one home run, while LaBarbera went 2-for-3 with two doubles and one run. That's the most doubles LaBarbera has posted since back in April of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Faith DeRing, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base and one run.
Meanwhile, Dunedin sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 6-4 win over Mulberry on Tuesday.
Abby McLemore spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered four runs (all of which were unearned) on two hits and racked up 11 Ks.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Olivia Preston, who went 2-for-3 with one home run. Aliyah Roseman was another key player, going 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI.
Dunedin hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. The team has now struck out at least three batters in four consecutive games.
Academy of the Holy Names' victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 13-9. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.2 runs on average over those games. As for Dunedin, their victory bumped their record up to 20-5.
Academy of the Holy Names took their win against Dunedin in their previous matchup back in March of 2019 by a conclusive 10-0 score. Do the Jaguars have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Falcons turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
