Baseball Game Preview: Praise Academy Lions vs. Central Christian Crusaders

Praise Academy is on a five-game streak of home wins, while Central Christian is on a four-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Lions will host the Crusaders at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Praise Academy's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Monday. Everything went their way against Abundant Life Christian Academy as they made off with a 12-0 victory. Praise Academy might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three games by eight runs or more this season.

Chase Hayward and Cap Cheshire made a splash no matter where they played. On the mound, Hayward struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Cheshire tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has become a key player for Praise Academy: the team is 3-1 when he allows at most two hits, but 2-3 otherwise. At bat, Hayward went 1-for-2 with two runs and one double, while Cheshire went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and one stolen base.

Brayden Kirby

Runs

04/14/25 vs Abundant Life Christian Academy	2
03/28/25 vs Cornerstone Prep Academy	2
03/08/25 vs Oakwood Christian	2
03/14/25 vs Unity Christian	1
03/06/25 @ Unity Christian	1

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Brayden Kirby, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI. He is becoming a predictor of Praise Academy's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 2-4 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Elijah Pomerinke, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Central Christian posted their closest win since March 3rd on Thursday. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Skipstone Academy 8-6.

Central Christian has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 9-6-1 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 4.0 runs on average over those games. As for Praise Academy, they now have a winning record of 5-4.

Praise Academy suffered a grim 16-4 defeat to Central Christian when the teams last played back in March. Will the Lions have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.