The Forest Wildcats will square off against the Belleview Rattlers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Forest took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Wednesday. They were the clear victor by a 13-5 margin over Dunnellon. The win continues a trend for the Wildcats in their matchups with the Tigers: they've now won six in a row.
Reagan Quinn made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, pitching four innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off two hits. Quinn was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one double.
Mahri Lingle
| 03/12/25 vs Dunnellon | 1 |
| 03/11/25 @ Gainesville | 1 |
| 03/06/25 vs DeLand | 2 |
| 03/03/25 @ Buchholz | 2 |
| 02/28/25 vs Lecanto | 1 |
| 02/27/25 @ Lake Weir | 1 |
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Mahri Lingle, who scored four runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4. She is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as she's now snagged at least one in each of the last six games she's played. Jaiden Prestipino was another key player, going a perfect 2-for-2 with four RBI, one run, and one double.
Forest was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .484. They are 4-1 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Belleview). Everything went their way against Interlachen on Wednesday as Belleview made off with a 15-5 victory. With that win, the Rattlers brought their scoring average up to 6.6 runs per game.
Belleview let Kiera Evans and Harper Foote run wild. Evans scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances, while Foote went a perfect 3-for-3 with five RBI, two runs, and one double. The dominant performance also gave Evans a new career-high in triples (two). Another player making a difference was April Smith, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
Belleview is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 4-4 record this season. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to hits: they averaged an imposing 9.8 hits in those games compared to only 5.33 in the others. Forest pushed their record up to 5-4 with the victory, which was their third straight at home.
Forest's speedy runners might be the difference in Thursday's game. Forest has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.8 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for Belleview, though, as they've been averaging only 0.9 stolen bases. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Forest continue to outrun the ball?
Forest took their win against Belleview in their previous matchup back in March of 2024 by a conclusive 16-6. Does Forest have another victory up their sleeve, or will Belleview turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
