Baseball Preview: Coastal Christian Centurions vs. Epiphany Falcons
After two games on the road, Coastal Christian is heading back home. They will take on the Epiphany Falcons at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Coastal Christian suffered a tough 16-2 defeat at the hands of Greenfield.
Coastal Christian saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Dominic Libretto, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-2. Libretto has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive pitching appearances.
Meanwhile, Epiphany can finally bid farewell to their six-game losing streak thanks to their game on Friday. They never let Gramercy Christian onto the board and left with a 10-0 victory. Epiphany's offense finally found a way to get into gear: the high-octane performance was a 180-degree turn from their last six games.
Luis McElearney made a big impact no matter where he played. He didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out 13 over six innings pitched. McElearney was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Bryan Humphrey, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Paxton Phelps, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3.
Coastal Christian has not been sharp recently as the team has lost six of their last seven matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-8 record this season. As for Epiphany, their win bumped their record up to 2-6.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Coastal Christian has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.6 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Epiphany struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Coastal Christian came out on top in a nail-biter against Epiphany when the teams last played back in March, sneaking past 4-2. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was McElearney, who struck out nine batters over 4.1 innings while giving up just two earned runs off three hits (and only one walk). Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Coastal Christian still be able to contain McElearney? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
