Baseball Preview: Merritt Island Christian Cougars vs. Cocoa Beach Minutemen
Merritt Island Christian has enjoyed the comforts of home their last three games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will take on the Cocoa Beach Minutemen at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Merritt Island Christian is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 7.6 runs per game this season.
Last Tuesday, Merritt Island Christian sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-4 victory over Calvary Chapel Academy. The win was just what Merritt Island Christian needed coming off of an 11-5 defeat in their prior contest.
Banner Dodd was excellent, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Cocoa Beach didn't have quite enough to beat Westerville Central on Friday and fell 3-2. Cocoa Beach has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Cocoa Beach saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Kristian Wolfe, who went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
The victory got Merritt Island Christian back to even at 6-6. As for Cocoa Beach, their loss dropped their record down to 5-8.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Merritt Island Christian has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Cocoa Beach struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.7. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Merritt Island Christian came out on top in a nail-biter against Cocoa Beach when the teams last played back in March, sneaking past 6-5. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Cocoa Beach's Vincent Barchanowicz, who pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (he also only allowed one walk). Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Merritt Island Christian still be able to contain Barchanowicz? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
