The Pine Crest Panthers will face off against the Calvary Christian Academy Eagles at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Pine Crest is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They came out on top against Pompano Beach by a score of 4-1.
Brady Bushnell spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on three hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one walk in six consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Cooper Obst was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-4. That's the most stolen bases he has posted since back in February. Paul Baker was another key player, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Calvary Christian Academy). Everything went their way against Cardinal Gibbons on Tuesday as they made off with a 22-7 win. The victory was nothing new for the Eagles as they're now sitting on four straight.
Carlos Lugo made a splash while hitting and pitching. He tossed one inning while giving up just one earned run off one hit. Lugo was even better at the plate, scoring four runs while going 4-for-4. He is becoming a predictor of Calvary Christian Academy's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 7-2 (and 6-7-3 when he doesn't).
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Preston Bielec, who fired off two home runs, eight RBI, and three runs while going 2-for-4. The team also got some help courtesy of Braden Rosenthal, who scored five runs while getting on base in all five of his plate appearances.
Calvary Christian Academy always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .600. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Pine Crest has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a nice bump to their 14-5-2 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.8 runs on average over those games. As for Calvary Christian Academy, their victory bumped their record up to 13-9-3.
Pine Crest took their win against Calvary Christian Academy when the teams last played back in March by a conclusive 22-15 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Panthers since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
