Baseball Game Preview: Tavares Bulldogs vs. East Ridge Knights

The Tavares Bulldogs will take on the East Ridge Knights at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty run totals in their previous games.

Tavares is headed into Tuesday's match looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their seventh straight game dating back to last season on Thursday. They were two runs away from ending the streak, but they lost a 13-11 heartbreaker at the hands of South Lake.

Meanwhile, everything went East Ridge's way against Ocoee on Thursday as East Ridge made off with a 12-2 victory. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win East Ridge has posted against Ocoee since March 30, 2018.

Cale Keene spent all six innings played on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on two hits and racked up eight Ks.

On the hitting side, Haisum Osuna and Matthew Dewoody did most of the damage at the plate: Osuna scored two runs while going 2-for-4, while Dewoody scored two runs and stole three bases while going 2-for-3. Those three stolen bases gave Dewoody a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Stephen Pineda, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.

East Ridge always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .556. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Ocoee only posted an OBP of .333.

Tavares' loss dropped their record down to 0-2. As for East Ridge, the victory got them back to even at 1-1.

Tavares was able to grind out a solid win over East Ridge when the teams last played back in February of 2024, winning 3-0. Will Tavares repeat their success, or does East Ridge have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.