The Covington Latin Trojans will look to take advantage of their home field for the first time this season as they take on the Heritage Academy Eagles at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Last Friday, Covington Latin made easy work of Newport and carried off a 10-1 victory. The win continues a trend for the Trojans in their matchups with the Wildcats: they've now won three in a row.
Leo Short spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered a run (which was unearned) on three hits and racked up ten Ks.
On the hitting side, Covington Latin got a massive performance out of Casey Fitzpatrick, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Carter Johnson was another key player, going 1-for-5 with three RBI, one triple, and one run.
Meanwhile, Heritage Academy waltzed into their game on Saturday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They were the clear victors by a 17-1 margin over the Wildcats. The result was nothing new for the Eagles, who have now won five contests by seven runs or more so far this season.
Elan Forman was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up a single earned run in three consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing three bases while going 2-for-4. Heritage Academy is undefeated when Forman posts two or more runs, but 2-3 otherwise.
In other pitching news, Austin Brown looked comfortable as he scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-3. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Heritage Academy is 4-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 1-2 otherwise.
Back at the plate, the team relied heavily on Elliot Kloss, who scored a run and stole a base while going 4-for-4. Kloss is crushing it when it comes to stolen bases: he's snagged at least one every time he's taken the field this season. Another player making a difference was Benjamin Brown, who scored a run while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Heritage Academy was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .520. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .385 or higher in three consecutive matchups.
Heritage Academy's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 5-3. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 15.0 runs over those games. As for Covington Latin, the victory got them back to even at 1-1.
Covington Latin skirted past Heritage Academy 8-7 when the teams last played back in April of 2017. Do the Trojans have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Eagles turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
