Baseball Game Preview: Winter Springs Bears vs. Auburndale Bloodhounds

For the second straight game, Winter Springs will face off against Auburndale. The Bears will welcome the Bloodhounds at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Winter Springs will be looking to extend their current 12-game winning streak.

Winter Springs is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They never let Auburndale get on the board and left with a 10-0 win. The result was nothing new for the Bears, who have now won 11 games by seven runs or more so far this season.

Winter Springs got a great performance from Aiden Smarrito as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits over five innings pitched. Smarrito has been consistent for a while: he hasn't given up more than two walks any time he's pitched this season.

On the hitting side, Winter Springs let Tyler Kenast and Manny Sanchez run wild. Kenast went a perfect 4-for-4 with three doubles, two RBI, and one run, while Sanchez went a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run. That's the most RBI Sanchez has posted since back in March. Luke Walters was another key player, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs.

Winter Springs always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .545. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in three consecutive matches.

Winter Springs pushed their record up to 24-4 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.6 runs on average over those games. As for Auburndale, their defeat dropped their record down to 10-18.