MT. CARMEL, Ill. -- The eighth-ranked baseball Warriors head to Rome, Georgia this weekend for a three-game series at 12th-ranked Georgia Highlands.
The games will be played at 5,100-seat AdventHealth Stadium, the home of the High-A South Atlantic League affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. A doubleheader will be played at 12 noon CST on Saturday, followed by a nine-inning single game on Sunday at 12 noon.
Wabash Valley enters with a 3-5 record through the first two weekends of a demanding non-conference swing through the south. The Warriors were 2-2 last weekend at the Tournament of Champions in Texas after a 1-3 finish two weeks ago in the Panama City Beach Baseball Classic in Florida.
This weekend's opponent from Region 17 will be the sixth team that is either ranked by the NJCAA or was ranked in other major pre-season polls. And Aaron Biddle's Warriors have played them to the hilt. Four of the five losses have come on walk-off hits.
Georgia Highlands is off to a great start. The Chargers are 9-1 and will carry a four-game winning streak into the series opener. WVC will be the first ranked opponent the Chargers have faced.
Their only loss came on Feb. 10 against Great Rivers Athletic Conference member Lincoln Trail (3-2), dropping a 4-3 game to the Statesmen in the first game of a doubleheader.
The Chargers have one of the hottest bats in the country in their lineup. Sophomore outfielder Hudson Sapp is batting .636 and is listed fifth on the NJCAA Division I leaderboard. He is first, though, among regular starters at this early juncture.
Biddle plans to go with the same group of starting pitchers against Georgia Highlands. Jacob Frost (1-0, 0.90 ERA), who has thrown 10 innings of one-run baseball in two starts against ranked opponents, will be on the hill for the first game on Saturday, followed by Agnel Miranda (1-0, 5.40 ERA) in Game Two. Mike Sokol (1-0, 5.14 ERA) will get the ball for the nine-inning finale on Sunday.
Richard Bonomolo, Jr. is hitting .464 to lead the Warrior attack in the early going. His slugging percentage is an impressive .714 and he has already powered his way to two doubles, one triple, one home run and eight RBIs in 28 at bats.
WVC has a home game scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 21st against Vincennes (1-3). Then, next weekend the Warriors play in Millington, Tennessee in the Babe Howard Juco Classic.