The Jackson Academy Eagles will square off against the Sparta Academy Warriors at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Jackson Academy has five straight victories, Sparta Academy has eight straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
On Thursday, Jackson Academy needed a bit of extra time to put away Morgan Academy. They walked away with an 8-3 win over the Senators. Eight seems to be a good number for the Eagles as the squad scooped up a victory with the same number of runs in their previous game.
The team relied heavily on Bradford Harrell, who went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI. That's the most stolen bases she has posted since back in February. Another player making a difference was Leena James, who went 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Sparta Academy scored the most runs they've had this season on Monday, but it wasn't enough. They came up short against Patrician Academy, falling 10-2. That's two games in a row now that the Warriors have lost by exactly eight runs.
Kassidy Barlow made the most of her time in the batter's box despite the final result and went a perfect 1-for-1 with one triple and one RBI. That RBI was her first of the season. The team also got some help courtesy of Carly Gauna, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and one run.
Sparta Academy's defeat dropped their record down to 0-8. As for Jackson Academy, their win bumped their record up to 11-8.
Sparta Academy's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Jackson Academy hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .341. It's a different story for Sparta Academy, though, as they've only averaged .250. Will they be able to contain Jackson Academy's hitters?
Everything went Jackson Academy's way against Sparta Academy when the teams last played back in March, as Jackson Academy made off with a 20-1 victory. Will the Eagles repeat their success, or do the Warriors have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
