The J.L. Mann Patriots will venture away from home to square off against the Hillcrest Rams at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (J.L. Mann has five straight victories, Hillcrest has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
If J.L. Mann beats Hillcrest with seven runs on Tuesday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two matchups with that exact score. J.L. Mann beat Woodmont on Friday by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 7-6.
Reid Holtzclaw looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been consistent : he hasn't given up more than one walk any time he's pitched this season.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on McLeod Darnell, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, two RBI, and one double. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in April of 2024. Curtis Bull also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.
Meanwhile, Hillcrest came up short against Chapin on Saturday and fell 6-2.
J.L. Mann pushed their record up to 8-5 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Hillcrest, they now have a losing record of 6-7.
J.L. Mann couldn't quite finish off Hillcrest in their previous meeting back in April of 2024 and fell 4-2. Can J.L. Mann avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
