Baseball Preview: Island Coast Gators vs. North Fort Myers Red Knights
Island Coast is 9-1 against North Fort Myers since March of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Island Coast Gators will head out on the road to challenge the North Fort Myers Red Knights at 7:00 p.m. Given that both teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this match.
Last Tuesday, Island Coast came up short against Riverview Sarasota and fell 6-3. Island Coast has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Island Coast got a good showing from Anthony Ruiz, who pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (he also only allowed one walk).
At the plate, Island Coast saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jayven Torres, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Meanwhile, after soaring to 15 runs the game before, North Fort Myers was a bit more limited in their game on Tuesday. They fell 5-1 to South Fort Myers.
North Fort Myers also got a good showing from Haden Staruk, who pitched four innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off four hits (he also only allowed one walk). Staruk has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up a single walk in three consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Logan Divet was cooking despite his team's loss, going 1-for-3 with a home run.
Island Coast's record is now 11-8. As for North Fort Myers, they dropped their record down to 6-11 with that defeat, which was their fourth straight on the road.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. Island Coast has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.5 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like North Fort Myers struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.4. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Island Coast couldn't quite finish off North Fort Myers in their previous matchup back in May of 2023 and fell 13-11. Can Island Coast avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
