Baseball Game Preview: Auburndale Bloodhounds vs. Winter Springs Bears

For the second straight game, Auburndale will face off against Winter Springs. The Bloodhounds will head out to square off against the Bears at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Auburndale heads in on the heels of a playoff match on Wednesday. They came up short against Winter Springs, falling 10-0.

For Winter Springs' part, Aiden Smarrito tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only two hits over five innings pitched. Smarrito has been consistent for a while: he hasn't given up more than two walks any time he's pitched this season.

At the plate, Tyler Kenast and Manny Sanchez did most of the damage at the plate: Kenast went a perfect 4-for-4 with three doubles, two RBI, and one run, while Sanchez went a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run. Those three hits gave Sanchez a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Alex Dameron, who went 1-for-4 with two RBI, one run, and one double.

Winter Springs was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .375. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .333 or higher in three consecutive contests.

Winter Springs pushed their record up to 24-4 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.6 runs on average over those games. As for Auburndale, their defeat dropped their record down to 10-18.