The Statesville Christian Lions will challenge the Burlington Christian Academy Royals at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Statesville Christian will roll into the contest after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up one run on Friday, then bounced right back against Oak Ridge Military Academy on Tuesday. Everything went Statesville Christian's way against Oak Ridge Military Academy as Statesville Christian made off with an 11-4 win. With that victory, the Lions brought their scoring average up to 6.2 runs per game.
Toby Stewert and Jeremy Todd made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Stewert struck out eight batters over five innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits. Meanwhile, Todd struck out six batters over two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. At bat, Stewert scored three runs while going 3-for-5, while Todd scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4. The dominant performance gave Stewert a new career-high in runs.
Andrew Thompson
| 03/11/25 @ Oak Ridge Military Academy | 2 |
| 02/28/25 vs North Hills Christian | 1 |
| 05/07/24 @ Carolina Day | 1 |
| 05/02/24 vs Salem Baptist Christian | 1 |
| 04/15/24 vs Liberty Preparatory Christian Academy | 1 |
In other batting news, Andrew Thompson was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing Two bases. while going 2-for-4. Those two hits gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Noah Eddy, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Statesville Christian always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .524. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Burlington Christian Academy put another one in the bag on Thursday to keep their perfect season alive. They put the hurt on Gaston Day with a sharp 17-1 win. The Royals might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four matchups by ten runs or more this season.
Anthony Valdez was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out ten batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off five hits (and only one walk). What's more, he gave up only one walk, the fewest he's had since back in April of 2024. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-2.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Cohen Payne, who went 1-for-3 with three runs, three RBI, and one triple. That triple marked the first that he hit this season. Another player making a difference was Gib Wirt, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Burlington Christian Academy pushed their record up to 7-0 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.1 runs on average over those games. As for Statesville Christian, their win ended a six-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 3-1.
Friday's game will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Statesville Christian hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .317. However, it's not like Burlington Christian Academy struggles in that department as they've averaged .420. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Statesville Christian might still be hurting after the 13-3 defeat they got from Burlington Christian Academy in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. Will Statesville Christian have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
