The Seabreeze Sandcrabs will head out to face off against the St. Augustine Yellow Jackets at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Seabreeze will bounce into Thursday's match after beating Father Lopez, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. The Sandcrabs came out on top against the Green Wave by a score of 5-1 on Tuesday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Sandcrabs.
Tommy Hayes
| 04/08/25 vs Father Lopez | 9 |
| 02/22/25 vs Islands | 7 |
| 03/01/24 @ St. Augustine | 5 |
| 02/22/24 @ Viera | 4 |
| 04/02/25 @ Atlantic | 3 |
Tommy Hayes looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out nine over four innings pitched. Those nine strikeouts gave him a new career-high.
On the hitting side, Jacob Imhoff was excellent, scoring three runs while going 3-for-3. Seabreeze is undefeated when Imhoff posts two or more runs, but 9-10 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Rustin Hurley, who went 1-for-3 with three RBI and one triple.
Meanwhile, St. Augustine got the win against Wolfson on Wednesday by a conclusive 11-4.
Xavier Ahr was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He struck out nine batters over five innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off seven hits (and only one walk). Ahr was also stellar in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one home run and two RBI.
In other pitching news, Lukas Wasson looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances.
Back at the plate, the team relied heavily on Josiah Vargas, who scored two runs while going 3-for-5. Luke Ciliberti was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing two bases.
St. Augustine kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 5.1 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 games they've averaged 8.8.
St. Augustine has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 11-12 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.2 runs on average over those games. As for Seabreeze, their record is now 14-10.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Seabreeze has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like St. Augustine struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Seabreeze beat St. Augustine 11-8 when the teams last played back in March of 2024. Will the Sandcrabs repeat their success, or do the Yellow Jackets have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
