The First Academy Royals will look to take advantage of their home field for the first time this season as they take on the IMG Academy Gray Ascenders at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Saturday, The First Academy beat Northside Christian 5-1. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Royals.
Kyle Hopper looked comfortable as he pitched 3.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits.
On the hitting side, Blake Fields was incredible, going 3-for-4 with one home run, five RBI, and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Cannon Koronka, who scored two runs while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for IMG Academy Gray, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Thursday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Sunshine State Elite Academy on Tuesday, sneaking past 4-3. The win continues a trend for the Ascenders in their matchups with Sunshine State Elite Academy: they've now won four in a row.
Blake Kolb looked comfortable as he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on TJ Eckert, who scored a run and stole a base while going 3-for-3. Another player making a difference was Ethan Stipp, who went 1-for-3 with one triple and one RBI.
IMG Academy Gray's victory was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 2-1. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs over those games. As for The First Academy, their win bumped their record up to 2-0.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
