The Santa Fe Catholic Hawks will challenge the Fort Meade Miners at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (Santa Fe Catholic 1.5, Fort Meade 3.7) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Santa Fe Catholic is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Florida's top teams: Bozeman, who was ranked 17th at the time (Santa Fe Catholic was ranked 25th). Santa Fe Catholic blew past Bozeman 11-4 on Monday. The Hawks might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five games by seven runs or more this season.
Jameson McGuire spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered four runs (all of which were unearned) on seven hits and racked up seven Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one walk in five consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Hudson Link and Easton Beach did most of the damage at the plate: Link went 1-for-4 with one home run and three RBI, while Beach scored a run while going 2-for-3. Angel Andujar was another key player, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Fort Meade won against Lake Region on Friday with seven runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Monday. Fort Meade beat Lakeland by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 7-5. The win was familiar territory for the Miners, who have now won three matches in a row.
Fort Meade's victory was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Matthew Pheiffer, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI and one double. Another was Owen Harrell, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3.
Santa Fe Catholic's win bumped their record up to 12-1. As for Fort Meade, their victory bumped their record up to 11-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Santa Fe Catholic has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Fort Meade struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Santa Fe Catholic was able to grind out a solid win over Fort Meade when the teams last played two weeks ago, winning 7-4. Will Santa Fe Catholic repeat their success, or does Fort Meade have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
