Baseball Preview: Central Jaguars vs. Destin Sharks
The Central Jaguars will play host again on Friday to welcome the Destin Sharks, where first pitch is scheduled at 4:00 p.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
In what's become a running theme this season, Central gave their fans yet another huge win on Thursday. Everything went their way against Baker as Central made off with a 7-1 victory. Seven seems to be a good number for Central as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Justin Smarr and Dylen Houk made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Smarr didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out nine over five innings pitched. Meanwhile, Houk pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Smarr has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive pitching appearances. At bat, Smarr scored a run while going 2-for-3, while Houk scored a run while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Brayden Faust, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played.
Meanwhile, Destin was not the first on the board last Tuesday, but they got there more often. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Freeport and snuck past 8-6.
Destin saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Patrick Vaccaro, who scored three runs and stole three bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Central's victory was their 14th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 18-1. As for Destin, their win ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 7-10.
Central's speedy runners might be the difference in Friday's matchup. Central has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.2 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for Destin, though, as they've been averaging only 1.1. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Central continue to outrun the ball? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
