The Academy of Careers & Exploration Eagle will head out on the road to face off against the de Toledo Jaguars at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
After only one run in their last matchup, Academy of Careers & Exploration made sure to put some runs up on the board against Desert on Friday. Academy of Careers & Exploration blew past Desert 13-1. Considering Academy of Careers & Exploration's hitters had been struggling lately, the high-scoring outing was a much-needed turnaround.
Academy of Careers & Exploration let Robbie Mazzarese and Zavier Garcia loose on the outfield. Mazzarese scored two runs while going 1-for-1, while Garcia scored a run while going 2-for-2. The team also got some help courtesy of Thomas Koupeny, who scored two runs while going 1-for-1.
Meanwhile, de Toledo had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8 runs), and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. Everything went their way against the Seawolves as they made off with a 15-2 win. Considering de Toledo has won four contests by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Keller Slotnick made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching an inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit (he also didn't allow any walks). Slotnick was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
In other pitching news, de Toledo got a great performance from Zander Friedman as he didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 13 over five innings pitched.
Back at the plate, James Heller was incredible, going 2-for-2 with a home run, three RBI, and a stolen base. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played. Jake Schultz was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
Academy of Careers & Exploration's victory was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 3-4. Those victories were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.4 runs per game. As for de Toledo, they have been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-5-1 record this season.
Academy of Careers & Exploration came up short against de Toledo in their previous matchup back in March of 2023, falling 7-2. Can Academy of Careers & Exploration 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
