Baseball Game Preview: Tradition Prep Pirates vs. Centennial Eagles

The Tradition Prep Pirates will face off against the Centennial Eagles at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Centennial took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Tradition Prep, who comes in off a win.

Tradition Prep headed into their last contest having not scored more than two runs for three straight, but Port St. Lucie let them put that streak behind them. Tradition Prep came out on top against Port St. Lucie by a score of 10-5 on Friday. The victory was a breath of fresh air for the Pirates as it put an end to their four-game losing streak dating back to last season.

Pablo Almonte

Runs (Career)

02/21/25 @ Port St. Lucie	2
04/05/24 vs Calvary Chapel Academy	1
03/25/24 @ Atlantic	1
03/08/24 @ Sebastian River	1

Pablo Almonte and Aliet Garcia made a big impact no matter where they played. On the mound, Almonte kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Meanwhile, Garcia pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. That's the first time he hasn't allowed a single hit since back in March of 2024. At bat, Almonte scored two runs while going 2-for-3, while Garcia went 2-for-3 with one double and one RBI. The dominant performance gave Almonte a new career-high in runs.

In other batting news, Sebastian Garcia was a standout: he scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Another player making a difference was Daniel Almonte, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3.

Tradition Prep hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Port St. Lucie struck out 16 times.

Meanwhile, Centennial fell victim to Benjamin and their airtight pitching crew on Wednesday. They took a 3-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Buccaneers. The Eagles have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Michael DiDonato was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits over five innings pitched. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Centennial is 3-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 1-3 otherwise.

At the plate, Centennial saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Nathaniel Rodriguez, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base. Peyton Salerno also deserves some recognition as he hit his first triple of the season.

Tradition Prep's first win this season bumped their record up to 1-3. As for Centennial, their loss dropped their record down to 4-4.