Baseball Preview: Pinellas Park Patriots vs. Clearwater Tornadoes
The Pinellas Park Patriots will be playing at home against the Clearwater Tornadoes at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Pinellas Park has not done well against Largo recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Thursday. Pinellas Park sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-4 win over Largo. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Pinellas Park.
The team relied heavily on Carter Dubois, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a double. The team also got some help courtesy of Neil Rothrock, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
Meanwhile, it may have taken nine innings to finish the job, but Clearwater ultimately got the result they hoped for on Tuesday. They had just enough and edged Sports Leadership & Management out 9-8. The victory was just what Clearwater needed coming off of a 10-1 loss in their prior match.
Ty Woodring was a standout: he went 3-for-5 with a triple, two RBI, and a run. Logan Bogue was another key contributor, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with two runs and a triple.
Pinellas Park's win bumped their record up to 5-7. As for Clearwater, they pushed their record up to 5-9 with that victory, which was their fourth straight at home.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Pinellas Park has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Clearwater struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.9. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Pinellas Park beat Clearwater 5-1 when the teams last played back in March of 2023. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Clearwater's Cael Gaunay, who pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (he also didn't allow any walks). Now that he won't be playing on Thursday, will it be that much easier for Pinellas Park to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
