Preview: Lecanto Panthers vs. Land O' Lakes Gators
Lecanto has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will square off against the Land O' Lakes Gators at 4:00 p.m. on Monday.
On Thursday, Lecanto came up short against Lake Minneola and fell 4-1.
Nick Sloane spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered three earned (and one unearned) runs on seven hits.
On the hitting side, Lecanto saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Brady Newtson, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Land O' Lakes had already won seven in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.4 runs), and they went ahead and made it eight on Thursday. Everything went their way against the Pirates as they made off with a 13-7 victory. Land O' Lakes might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won six games by six runs or more this season.
Cody Gwinn was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 1-for-2. Another player making a difference was Ryan Chase, who scored two runs while going 1-for-3.
Lecanto has not been sharp recently as the team has lost six of their last eight contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-6 record this season. As for Land O' Lakes, they pushed their record up to 9-3 with that win, which was their fourth straight at home.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Lecanto has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Land O' Lakes struggles in that department as they've been averaging 11.1 per game. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Lecanto might still be hurting after the 12-2 defeat they got from Land O' Lakes in their previous meeting back in March of 2021. Thankfully for Lecanto, Jacob Ward (who struck out eight batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits (and not a single walk)) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
