The East Central HomeSchool Patriots will square off against the Tuscaloosa Home Educators Warriors at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The timing is sure in East Central HomeSchool's favor as the squad sits on three straight wins at home while Tuscaloosa Home Educators has been banged up by four consecutive losses on the road.
On Saturday, East Central HomeSchool had just enough and edged out Heritage Christian Academy 6-4.
Andrew Barksdale
| 03/10/25 @ Evangel Christian | 4 |
| 03/07/25 vs Cullman | 4 |
| 03/20/25 @ Tuscaloosa Home Educators | 2 |
| 02/13/25 @ Cullman | 2 |
| 03/27/25 @ Southern Christian | 1 |
| + 3 more games |
Andrew Barksdale was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He struck out ten batters over seven innings while giving up four earned runs off eight hits (and not a single walk). He also tossed no walks, which is notable because East Central HomeSchool is 5-2 when he allows at most two walks, but 2-3 otherwise. Barksdale was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, Colin Allison and Isaac Davis did most of the damage at the plate: Allison went 2-for-3 with one home run, one stolen base, and two RBI, while Davis scored two runs and stole three bases while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. That's the most runs Davis has posted since back in February. Cade Best was another key player, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Tuscaloosa Home Educators lost 10-1 to Evangel Christian on Thursday.
East Central HomeSchool has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a nice bump to their 7-5 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 4.0 runs on average over those games. As for Tuscaloosa Home Educators, their loss dropped their record down to 5-9.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. East Central HomeSchool has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Tuscaloosa Home Educators struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
East Central HomeSchool came out on top in a nail-biter against Tuscaloosa Home Educators in their previous matchup back in March, sneaking past 4-2. Will the Patriots repeat their success, or do the Warriors have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
