Baseball Game Preview: Cocoa Beach Minutemen vs. Merritt Island Mustangs

Cocoa Beach hasn't had much luck against Merritt Island recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Cocoa Beach Minutemen will head out to face off against the Merritt Island Mustangs at 6:00 p.m. Cocoa Beach's pitching crew has only allowed four runs per game this season, so Merritt Island's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

On Friday, Cocoa Beach didn't have quite enough to beat Heritage and fell 5-4.

Anthony Ceruti made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one stolen base and one RBI.

Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, Merritt Island's good fortune finally ran out on Friday. They fell just short of Eau Gallie by a score of 5-3.

Liam Miller was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in five of his six plate appearances. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in hits (three).

The defeat was their first at home , dropping their record down to 6-2. As for Cocoa Beach, their loss dropped their record down to 4-4.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Cocoa Beach has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Merritt Island struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Cocoa Beach suffered a grim 12-0 defeat to Merritt Island in their previous matchup back in February of 2024. Can Cocoa Beach avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.