The Freedom Christian Academy Patriots will take on the Burlington Christian Academy Royals at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Freedom Christian Academy sitting on six straight wins and Burlington Christian Academy on 14.
Freedom Christian Academy is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Faith Christian, sneaking past 8-6. That's two games straight that Freedom Christian Academy has won by exactly two runs.
The team relied heavily on Graysen Stafford, who went 1-for-3 with one home run, three runs, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Christian Alleman, who went 1-for-3 with three stolen bases and one run.
Meanwhile, Burlington Christian Academy hadn't done well against Westchester Country Day recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Thursday. The Royals were the clear victors by an 11-1 margin over the Wildcats. The Royals might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 14 matchups by six runs or more this season.
Will Grubb spent all six innings played on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on four hits and racked up seven Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in nine consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Burlington Christian Academy let Gib Wirt and Cooper Kelly run wild. Wirt went 2-for-3 with three runs and one double, while Kelly went 1-for-2 with two runs, two RBI, and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Davis Phillips, who went 1-for-3 with two runs, two RBI, and one double.
Burlington Christian Academy's victory was their 15th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 22-1. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Freedom Christian Academy, their record now sits at 22-5.
Both Freedom Christian Academy and Burlington Christian Academy just can't seem to miss. The Patriots have been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 8.9 hits per game. However, it's not like Burlington Christian Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 4.6 hits. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Freedom Christian Academy came up short against Burlington Christian Academy when the teams last played back in April, falling 7-2. Can the Patriots avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
