The Villages Charter and Umatilla are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2019, but likely not for long. The Buffalo will be playing in front of their home fans against the Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
While The Villages Charter's victory against Lake Minneola wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Buffalo won by a run and slipped past the Hawks 4-3. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Buffalo have posted since February 22nd.
The Villages Charter got a great performance from Haylee Nobles as she pitched six innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. Nobles has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances.
Payton West
| 04/14/25 @ Lake Minneola | 3 |
| 04/04/25 @ Nature Coast Tech | 2 |
| 03/15/24 vs Zephyrhills | 2 |
| 04/08/25 vs Vanguard | 1 |
| 04/03/25 vs Foundation Academy | 1 |
At the plate, Payton West was excellent, scoring a run while going 3-for-4. Those three hits gave her a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Lexy Sanchez, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-4.
Meanwhile, Umatilla sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with an 8-7 victory over Leesburg on Monday. The Bulldogs haven't had any issues with the Yellow Jackets recently, as the game was their ninth consecutive win against them.
Jaelyn Larsen and Chloe Rumford made a big impact no matter where they played. On the mound, Larsen pitched 3.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. Meanwhile, Rumford tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off four hits. At bat, Larsen scored a run while going 2-for-4, while Rumford went 1-for-4 with one triple and one run.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Aliyah Duncan, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
The Villages Charter's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-8. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Umatilla, their victory bumped their record up to 7-13.
The Villages Charter couldn't quite finish off Umatilla when the teams last played back in April of 2024 and fell 8-6. Can the Buffalo avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
