Warriors
| 04/23/25 vs Lutheran West | 3 |
| 04/22/25 @ Lutheran West | 5 |
| 04/18/25 @ Clearview | 7 |
| 04/17/25 vs Cuyahoga Heights | 7 |
| 04/14/25 @ Cuyahoga Heights | 7 |
| + 3 more games |
The Fairview Warriors will face off against the Kirtland Hornets at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Fairview is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.2 runs per game this season.
Fairview made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Lutheran West, but they still couldn't quite topple them. The Warriors fell just short of the Longhorns by a score of 5-3 on Wednesday. The Warriors have struggled against the Longhorns recently, as the game was their ninth consecutive lost meeting.
Meanwhile, Kirtland put another one in the bag on Thursday to keep their perfect season alive. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Cuyahoga Heights a 3-0 shutout. The three-run effort marked the Hornets' lowest-scoring contest of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
Xavier Lasecki made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run over seven innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with three stolen bases and one run. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 1.1 stolen bases per game.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Ben Difranco, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with one triple and one RBI. That triple was his first of the season. Another player making a difference was Tyler Turk, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases.
Kirtland's victory was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 10-0. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.4 runs on average over those games. As for Fairview, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Fairview has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.6 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Kirtland struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Fairview was able to grind out a solid victory over Kirtland in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, winning 5-2. Will the Warriors repeat their success, or do the Hornets have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
