Lake Mead Academy has enjoyed the comforts of home their last three games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will face off against the Needles Mustangs at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Lake Mead Academy is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They never let Awaken Christian onto the board and left with a 15-0 win.
The team relied heavily on Cameron LaPres, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 1-for-2. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played. Cash Johnson was another key contributor, scoring three runs and stealing a base while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Needles entered their tilt with White Pine with eight consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with nine. They blew past the Bobcats 14-4. That's two games straight that Needles has won by exactly ten runs.
Holden Jones was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he tossed an inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Jones was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with two runs, a triple, and a stolen base.
In other batting news, Talon Paget was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was JD Lusk, who went 1-for-2 with a home run and two RBI.
Lake Mead Academy pushed their record up to 18-1 with that victory, which was their 16th straight at home dating back to last season. As for Needles, they are on a roll lately: they've won 14 of their last 16 games, which provided a nice bump to their 23-7 record this season.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. Lake Mead Academy has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 6.5 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Needles struggles in that department as they've been averaging 4.6. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Lake Mead Academy skirted past Needles 6-5 in their previous meeting back in April. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Needles' Collin Smith, who struck out 12 batters over 5.2 innings while giving up five earned (and one unearned) runs off four hits. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Lake Mead Academy still be able to contain Smith? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
