Academy at the Lakes is 0-3 against Tampa Catholic since March of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Academy at the Lakes Wildcats will head out on the road to face off against the Tampa Catholic Crusaders at 6:00 p.m. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Academy at the Lakes is hoping to deliver their fans another blowout on Tuesday, just like they did against Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate (and have done all season long). Academy at the Lakes never let Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate onto the board and left with a 12-0 victory on Monday.
Mason Hudson was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Hudson has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in seven consecutive pitching appearances. Hudson was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with.
In other batting news, Academy at the Lakes got a big performance out of Vinnie VerPault, who scored three runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Engel Cortes-Ramos, who scored a run while going 1-for-1.
Meanwhile, Tampa Catholic had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4 runs), and they went ahead and made it four on Monday. They beat the Warriors by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 4-3.
Tampa Catholic saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Cole Bitman, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.
Academy at the Lakes' win ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 8-11. As for Tampa Catholic, they are on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last 12 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 15-7 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Academy at the Lakes has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Tampa Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.8. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Academy at the Lakes suffered a grim 11-4 defeat to Tampa Catholic when the teams last played back in April of 2022. Thankfully for Academy at the Lakes, Rolando Jimenez (who went 2-for-5 with two triples, three runs, and two RBI) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
