Baseball Game Preview: Malone Tigers vs. Ponce De Leon Pirates

The Malone Tigers will head out to face off against the Ponce De Leon Pirates at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Malone is coming into the game on a three-game losing streak.

Last Friday, Malone came up short against Wewahitchka and fell 10-7.

Meanwhile, Ponce De Leon also suffered a loss in their last game, falling to Vernon by a score of 16-12. The Pirates have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Dalton Churchwell put in work while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out 11 over four innings pitched. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in April of 2024. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-4. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he's played.

In other batting news, Mark Flynn was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring two runs and stealing three bases while going 2-for-4. He is becoming a predictor of Ponce De Leon's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 5-1 (and 1-2 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Trey Rushing, who went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, one double, and one RBI.

Ponce De Leon's defeat was their first in the district, dropping their district record down to 3-1 and their overall record down to 6-3. As for Malone, their loss dropped their record down to 4-7.