Baseball Recap: Lake Minneola Takes Down Melbourne in a Playoff Battle

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Previous 3 Games

04/26/25 - Neutral	6-5 W
04/24/25 - Home	10-9 W
04/23/25 - Home	4-12 L

It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Lake Minneola had no problem doing just that on Saturday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 6-5 victory over the Melbourne Bulldogs. That's the third time they've managed to beat them this season, with their most recent win being a 10-9 victory on Thursday.

Maddux Bultema was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with three RBI and one double.

In other batting news, Tristan Closson was excellent, going 1-for-4 with one home run. Another player making a difference was Tyler Pierre, who got on base in two of his four plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base.

Lake Minneola has been performing well recently as they've won 14 of their last 17 contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 22-8 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.0 runs over those games. As for Melbourne, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 18-10.

Coming up, Lake Minneola is taking a road trip to take on Bloomingdale at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The Bulls' pitching crew has only allowed 1.3 runs per game this season, so the Hawks' hitters will have their work cut out for them. Melbourne does not have any more games scheduled as of now.