The Cocoa Beach Minutemen will take on the Baker County Wildcats at 1:30 p.m. on Monday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Cocoa Beach took a nine-run defeat the last time they faced off against Melbourne Central Catholic, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. Cocoa Beach sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 6-5 win over Melbourne Central Catholic on Thursday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Minutemen.
Jack Meckel
| 03/13/25 @ Melbourne Central Catholic | 2 |
| 03/12/25 @ Cocoa | 1 |
| 03/06/25 vs Rockledge | 1 |
| 02/21/24 @ Eau Gallie | 1 |
Jack Meckel made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He struck out eight batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits (and only one walk). What's more, he gave up only one walk, the fewest he's had since back in April of 2024. He was also solid in the batter's box, going a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run. Those two hits gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, Anthony Ceruti was incredible, going 2-for-4 with three runs, one triple, and one RBI. He has become a key player for Cocoa Beach: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 2-6 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Colten Marshall, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one double.
Meanwhile, it may have taken nine innings to finish the job, but Baker County ultimately got the result they hoped for on Thursday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Ponte Vedra, sneaking past 2-1.
Like Cocoa Beach, Baker County also got a great game from a two-way player: Reese Taylor. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching one inning while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Taylor has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Evan Cannon, who went 3-for-4 with two RBI and one double.
Baker County pushed their record up to 7-6 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Cocoa Beach, the win got them back to even at 6-6.
