The IMG Academy Gray Ascenders will head out on the road to square off against the Lakeland Dreadnaughts at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. IMG Academy Gray will be strutting in after a win while Lakeland will be coming in after a loss.
IMG Academy Gray's hitters will try to repeat the strong performance they gave on Tuesday, when they got past Barron Collier's usually-dominant pitching crew. The Ascenders were the clear victors by an 11-3 margin over the Cougars. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Ascenders.
Mason Montjoy tossed a big game, pitching five innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off four hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run any time he's pitched this season.
On the hitting side, Shine Barran was a standout: he scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-3. That's the most runs he has posted since back in February. The team also got some help courtesy of JD Westveld, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base.
IMG Academy Gray kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That's the most hits they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Lakeland was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their sixth straight defeat. They lost 9-1 to George Jenkins.
Lakeland also got a good showing from IAN VARNADORE, who pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. The dominant performance also gave VARNADORE a new career-low in walks (zero).
At the plate, Lakeland saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was CARTER MASLYN, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
IMG Academy Gray's record now sits at 13-7. As for Lakeland, their loss dropped their record down to 9-11.
Everything went IMG Academy Gray's way against Lakeland in their previous meeting back in April of 2021, as IMG Academy Gray made off with a 10-0 victory. Do the Ascenders have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Dreadnaughts turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
