The Lake Norman Charter Knights will face off against the Northwest Cabarrus Trojans at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Lake Norman Charter is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.6 runs per game this season.
Lake Norman Charter was handed a heart-breaking two-run defeat in their last match, but they sure didn't let that happen against Concord on Tuesday. The Knights put the hurt on the Spiders with a sharp 16-3 win. The Knights have beaten the Spiders the last eight times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Spiders has come to flipping the script.
Pearce Conklin
| 04/08/25 @ Concord | 4 |
| 03/20/25 vs Pine Lake Prep | 3 |
| 03/21/24 @ South Rowan | 3 |
| 03/18/25 vs East Rowan | 1 |
| 03/07/25 vs Concord | 1 |
Pearce Conklin made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (four). He was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 3-for-3.
In other batting news, Janson Kane and Corey Bean did most of the damage at the plate: Kane scored a run while going 3-for-4, while Bean got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two doubles and two RBI. Those two doubles gave Bean a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Palmer Hayes, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3.
Lake Norman Charter always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .553. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Northwest Cabarrus fought the good fight in their extra-innings contest against South Rowan on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Raiders by a score of 9-8. The loss continues a trend for the Trojans in their meetings with the Raiders: they've now lost four in a row.
Ben Able made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 1-for-5 with three RBI, two runs, and one triple. He has become a key player for Northwest Cabarrus: the team is 3-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 1-12 otherwise.
Lake Norman Charter's victory bumped their record up to 9-5. As for Northwest Cabarrus, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-13.
Northwest Cabarrus' pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Lake Norman Charter hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .312. It's a different story for Northwest Cabarrus, though, as they've only averaged .186. Will they be able to contain Lake Norman Charter's hitters?
Lake Norman Charter beat Northwest Cabarrus 10-6 when the teams last played back in March. Will the Knights repeat their success, or do the Trojans have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
