Preview: Lecanto Panthers vs. Lake Minneola Hawks
The Lecanto Panthers will be playing at home against the Lake Minneola Hawks at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Lecanto will be strutting in after a win while Lake Minneola will be coming in after a defeat.
Lecanto has not done well against South Sumter recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Lecanto won by a run and slipped past South Sumter 8-7. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Lecanto.
The team relied heavily on Vinny Cappuccilli, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Garrett Pitzer, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, it was a hard-fought contest, but Lake Minneola had to settle for a 5-4 loss against East Ridge on Tuesday.
Fabian Antensanti was cooking despite his team's loss, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with a home run, two stolen bases, and two RBI. Tyler Pierre was another key contributor, going 1-for-2 with a stolen base and a double.
The victory got Lecanto back to even at 5-5. As for Lake Minneola, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Lecanto has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Lake Minneola struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.3 per game. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Lecanto suffered a grim 15-2 defeat to Lake Minneola in their previous meeting back in March of 2023. Thankfully for Lecanto, Ryan Paul (who tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
