Baseball Game Preview: Lake Minneola Hawks vs. Bloomingdale Bulls

The Lake Minneola Hawks will head out to challenge the Bloomingdale Bulls at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Lake Minneola is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Saturday. They skirted past Melbourne 6-5. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Hawks.

Maddux Bultema

Base on Balls Against

04/26/25 vs Melbourne	0
04/11/25 @ Timber Creek	2
04/04/25 vs East Ridge	1

Maddux Bultema made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with three RBI and one double.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Tristan Closson, who went 1-for-4 with one home run. Tyler Pierre was another key player, getting on base in two of his four plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base.

Meanwhile, Bloomingdale came tearing into Thursday's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.7 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They put the hurt on the Hawks with a sharp 11-1 victory. The result was nothing new for the Bulls, who have now won 14 games by six runs or more so far this season.

Javier Navas-Hoyer tossed a big game, striking out seven batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in March.

At the plate, Alvin Cruz and Cesar Campos did most of the damage at the plate: Cruz got on base in all four of his plate appearances with three RBI and one triple, while Campos went a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI and two runs. That's the most runs Campos has posted since back in February. Another player making a difference was Isaiah Perez, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run.

Bloomingdale always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .533. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Horizon only posted an OBP of .263.

Bloomingdale pushed their record up to 24-4 with the win, which was their third straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.3 runs on average over those games. As for Lake Minneola, their record is now 22-8.