The Union Academy Cardinals will square off against the Sun Valley Spartans at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Union Academy knows how to get runs on the board -- the team has finished with ten runs or more in their past four matches -- so hopefully Sun Valley likes a good challenge.
If Union Academy beats Sun Valley with 15 runs on Wednesday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two contests with that exact score. Union Academy didn't even let Metrolina Christian Academy on the board on Tuesday, marking Union Academy's second-straight 15-0 shutout. Fans of the Cardinals have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 6+ runs.
Avery Wilson was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out eight batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and not a single walk). That's the fewest hits she has allowed since back in March of 2024. She was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Taylor Surratt, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with one home run, five RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Keilana Burgess, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI.
Union Academy always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .677. The last time their OBP was this high was back in April of 2024.
Meanwhile, Sun Valley earned an 8-3 win over East Mecklenburg on Friday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Spartans.
Sun Valley let Moriah Garcia (2026) and Kendall Smith (2026) run wild. Garcia (2026) scored a run and stole Three bases. while going 1-for-3, while Smith (2026) went 2-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and one double. The dominant performance gave Smith (2026) a new career-high in hits. The team also got some help courtesy of Nykoll Vera (2027), who went 1-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and one RBI.
Sun Valley's victory bumped their record up to 2-0. As for Union Academy, their win bumped their record up to 4-0.
Everything went Union Academy's way against Sun Valley in their previous meeting back in March of 2024, as Union Academy made off with a 16-1 victory. Does Union Academy have another victory up their sleeve, or will Sun Valley turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
