Pine Crest hasn't had much luck against North Broward Prep recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Pine Crest Panthers are taking a road trip to square off against the North Broward Prep Eagles at 6:30 p.m. Pine Crest will aim to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each game than the last.
Pine Crest made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Calvary Christian Academy, but they still couldn't quite topple them. Pine Crest put the hurt on Calvary Christian Academy with a sharp 22-15 win on Tuesday. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Panthers have posted against the Eagles since February 28, 2015.
Pine Crest got a massive performance out of Cooper Obst, who got on base in all six of his plate appearances with one home run, five runs, and four RBI. What's more, Obst posted three hits, the most he's had since back in April of 2024. Troy Ceritelli was another key player, scoring four runs and stealing a base while getting on base in five of his six plate appearances.
Pine Crest was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .533. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .318 or higher in three consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, North Broward Prep earned a 5-1 win over Coral Springs Charter on Tuesday. The Eagles haven't had any issues with the Panthers recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive victory against them.
Logan Bristol tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out six over five innings pitched. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-low in walks (one).
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Kiernan O'Neill, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3.
North Broward Prep pushed their record up to 10-5 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to hits: they averaged an imposing 8.75 hits in those games compared to only 5.55 in the others. As for Pine Crest, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-2-1 record this season.
North Broward Prep's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Pine Crest hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .324. It's a different story for North Broward Prep, though, as they've only averaged .232. Will they be able to contain Pine Crest's hitters?
Pine Crest skirted past North Broward Prep 6-4 when the teams last played back in March of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for Pine Crest since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
