Parklane Academy and Columbia Academy are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2017, but likely not for long. The Pioneers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Cougars at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Parklane Academy will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.
Parklane Academy not only won on Saturday, but they posted their biggest win since February 17th. Everything went their way against Amite School Center as they made off with a 14-5 win.
Aaron Holmes tossed a big game, tossing six innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off three hits.
Collin Smith
| 04/05/25 @ Amite School Center | 3 |
| 04/04/25 @ Bowling Green | 2 |
| 03/11/25 @ Copiah Academy | 2 |
| 04/04/25 @ Bowling Green | 1 |
| 03/27/25 vs Oak Forest Academy | 1 |
On the hitting side, Parklane Academy got a massive performance out of Collin Smith, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in all five of his plate appearances. The dominant performance also gave Smith a new career-high in hits (three). Another player making a difference was Eli Chandler, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-4.
Parklane Academy kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 17 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 4.9 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 games they've averaged 9.
Meanwhile, Columbia Academy is ranked highly in their home state and on Friday they took on another highly ranked team in the form of Oak Forest Academy. The Cougars fell just short of the Yellowjackets by a score of 7-5. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Cougars have suffered since May 9, 2024.
Trent Buckley put in work no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out six batters over 4.1 innings while giving up three earned runs off four hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in three consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with one home run, two runs, and one double.
Buckley wasn't the only one making solid contact as seven players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Corban Lawrence, who scored two runs while going 1-for-4.
Parklane Academy pushed their record up to 10-8 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.7 runs on average over those games. As for Columbia Academy, their loss ended a six-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 19-8.
Parklane Academy might still be hurting after the 9-3 defeat they got from Columbia Academy when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Can the Pioneers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
