Baseball Preview: Lecanto Panthers vs. The Villages Charter Buffalo
Lecanto is 2-8 against The Villages Charter since March of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Monday. The Lecanto Panthers will be playing in front of their home fans against The Villages Charter Buffalo at 7:00 p.m. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Lecanto took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Crystal River and snuck past 3-1.
Nick Sloane spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on three hits and racked up seven Ks.
At the plate, Lecanto saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Vinny Cappuccilli, who went 1-for-2 with two RBI.
Meanwhile, The Villages Charter waltzed into their matchup on Friday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They put the hurt on the Eagles with a sharp 8-2 win.
Nathan Budill tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run over five innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Joe Killpatrick and Lincoln Gagne did most of the damage at the plate: Killpatrick went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI, while Gagne scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4. The team also got some help courtesy of Torin Foley, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Lecanto's victory bumped their record up to 8-13. As for The Villages Charter, their win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 13-9.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Lecanto has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like The Villages Charter struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.7. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Lecanto suffered a grim 12-6 defeat to The Villages Charter in their previous meeting on April 4th. Will Lecanto have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
