The Celebration Storm will face off against the Cypress Creek Bears at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Cypress Creek took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Celebration, who comes in off a win.
Celebration took a loss when they played away from home on Thursday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Haines City as they made off with a 12-2 win.
Jay Berrios made a splash while hitting and pitching. He tossed 4.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off one hit. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (four). He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Ciro Yanez, who scored a run while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Alejandro Moreno was another key player, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-4.
Celebration always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .559. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Haines City only posted an OBP of .393.
Meanwhile, Cypress Creek was not able to break out of their rough patch on Monday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They fell 9-4 to Horizon.
Cypress Creek also got a good showing from Miguel Figueroa, who pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Figueroa is becoming a predictor of the Bears' success: when he allows at most one hit the team is 3-1 (and 6-14 when he doesn't).
At the plate, Aaron Camacaro was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Adrian Rodriguez, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Cypress Creek's defeat dropped their record down to 9-15. As for Celebration, their victory bumped their record up to 9-10.
Cypress Creek's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Celebration hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .337. It's a different story for Cypress Creek, though, as they've only averaged .214. Will they be able to contain Celebration's hitters?
Celebration took their win against Cypress Creek when the teams last played back in March by a conclusive 12-6 score. Will the Storm repeat their success, or do the Bears have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
