The Florida Christian Patriots will head out on the road to square off against the Hialeah Educational Academy Biggie at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.
Florida Christian came into their game on Tuesday off a hard-fought close win, but unfortunately suffered a serious change of fortune. They lost 9-3 to Monsignor Pace. The Patriots have struggled against the Spartans recently, as the game was their third consecutive lost meetings.
Florida Christian saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Andrew Sanchez, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Hialeah Educational Academy hadn't done well against Columbus recently (they were 0-4 in their previous four matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. Hialeah Educational Academy won by a run and slipped past Columbus 2-1.
JADEN LAO tossed a big game, pitching six innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Hialeah Educational Academy is 3-1 when LAO allowstwo or fewer earned runs, but 2-5 otherwise.
On the hitting side, JOSHUA CARDOSO was excellent, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 3-for-4. That's the most hits he has posted since back in March of 2024. EISLER PEREZ was another key player, going 1-for-3 with two stolen bases.
Hialeah Educational Academy has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 5-6 record this season. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to hits: they averaged an imposing 9.25 hits in those games compared to only 4.43 in the others. Florida Christian's defeat dropped their record down to 7-5.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Florida Christian has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Hialeah Educational Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Florida Christian skirted past Hialeah Educational Academy 3-2 in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for Florida Christian since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
