Baseball Game Preview: Booker Tornadoes vs. Saint Stephen's Episcopal Falcons

Booker is 1-6 against Saint Stephen's Episcopal since February of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Booker Tornadoes will venture away from home to take on the Saint Stephen's Episcopal Falcons at 4:00 p.m. Booker is coming into the game hot, having won their last four games.

Booker took a 11-run loss the last time they faced off against Bayshore, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. Booker won by a run and slipped past Bayshore 9-8.

Booker's win was truly a team effort as eight different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Le'Darien Smith, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3. Another was Joshua Azevedo, who scored two runs while going 2-for-4.

Meanwhile, it was a Battle of the Birds when Saint Stephen's Episcopal duked it out with Sarasota Military Academy on Monday. Saint Stephen's Episcopal narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Sarasota Military Academy 5-3. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Falcons.

Saint Stephen's Episcopal now has a winning record of 3-2. As for Booker, their win bumped their record up to 4-2.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Booker has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Saint Stephen's Episcopal struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Booker suffered a grim 14-1 defeat to Saint Stephen's Episcopal in their previous meeting back in April of 2022. Can Booker avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.