The Lake Wales Highlanders will head out to challenge the Inspiration Academy Lions at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Lake Wales comes in on four and Inspiration Academy on ten.
On Thursday, Lake Wales was able to grind out a solid win over Sebring, taking the game 5-1.
Anna Conroy spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered a run (which was unearned) on three hits.
On the hitting side, Lake Wales let Mattie Cockrell and Keira Davis run wild. Cockrell went 1-for-4 with one home run, while Davis went 1-for-2 with one triple, one run, and one RBI.
Meanwhile, it was close, but on Thursday Inspiration Academy sidestepped Bishop Verot for a 6-4 victory.
Inspiration Academy also let their pitcher toss all seven innings and she was also dialed-in: Elle Hildreth gave up four earned runs on six hits and racked up nine Ks. Hildreth has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in three consecutive appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Avery Bouquin, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Another player making a difference was Alexis McInerney, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Inspiration Academy hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Bishop Verot struck out nine times.
Inspiration Academy's win was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 16-4. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.2 runs on average over those games. As for Lake Wales, their record is now 9-5.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Lake Wales hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like Inspiration Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.4 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Lake Wales came up short against Inspiration Academy in their previous meeting back in March, falling 3-0. Can the Highlanders avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
