The Burlington Christian Academy Royals will venture away from home to challenge the Statesville Christian Lions at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Burlington Christian Academy will be coming into the match with an undefeated record on the line.
Burlington Christian Academy lost a heartbreaker the last time they played Gaston Day, but it's fair to say they got their revenge given the result of Thursday's game. Burlington Christian Academy put the hurt on Gaston Day with a sharp 17-1 win on Thursday. Considering the Royals have won four contests by more than nine runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Anthony Valdez made a big impact 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 big at the plate, 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 was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .481. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .345 or higher in six consecutive matches.
Statesville Christian not only won on Tuesday, but they posted their biggest win since April 22, 2024. They blew past Oak Ridge Military Academy 11-4. The Lions haven't had any issues with the Eagles recently, as the game was their third consecutive victory against them.
Like Burlington Christian Academy, Statesville Christian also got a great game from a two-way player: Toby Stewert. Throwing, Stewert struck out eight batters over five innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits. Meanwhile, Jeremy Todd struck out six batters over two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. At the plate, Stewert scored three runs while going 3-for-5, while Todd scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4. Those three runs gave Stewert a new career-high.
In other batting news, Andrew Thompson was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing Two bases. while going 2-for-4. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in hits. The team also got some help courtesy of Noah Eddy, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Burlington Christian Academy's win was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 7-0. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 10.5 runs. As for Statesville Christian, their record is now 3-1.
Both Burlington Christian Academy and Statesville Christian just can't seem to miss. Burlington Christian Academy has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 12.3 hits per game. However, it's not like Statesville Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 3.2 hits. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Everything went Burlington Christian Academy's way against Statesville Christian in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, as Burlington Christian Academy made off with a 13-3 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Burlington Christian Academy since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
