Baseball Game Preview: Dr. Phillips Panthers vs. West Orange Warriors

Dr. Phillips is 2-8 against West Orange since April of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Panthers will venture away from home to square off against the Warriors at 6:00 p.m.

Dr. Phillips is headed into Friday's matchup looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their fourth straight game on Tuesday. They took a 9-6 hit to the loss column at the hands of Windermere.

Diego Diaz

Runs

03/03/25 vs Oak Ridge	4
03/20/25 @ University	3
04/01/25 @ Windermere	2
03/18/25 vs DeLand	2
03/21/25 @ Mount Dora Christian Academy	1
+ 4 more games

Diego Diaz was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-4. He is becoming a predictor of Dr. Phillips' success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 3-1 (and 6-12 when he doesn't).

Meanwhile, West Orange waltzed into their game on Thursday with eight straight wins... but they left with nine. They walked away with a 5-2 win over the Hawks. Five seems to be a good number for the Warriors as the team scooped up a victory with the same number of runs in their previous game.

Sims McClusky spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned runs on five hits and racked up nine Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one walk in five consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Miguel Acosta was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing three bases while going 1-for-3. That's the most stolen bases he has posted since back in February. The team also got some help courtesy of David Acevedo, who scored two runs while going 2-for-4.

Dr. Phillips' defeat dropped their record down to 9-13. As for West Orange, their win bumped their record up to 17-4.

Dr. Phillips couldn't quite finish off West Orange in their previous meeting back in March of 2024 and fell 3-1. Can the Panthers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.