Baseball Preview: Port Charlotte Pirates vs. Lemon Bay Manta Rays
The Port Charlotte Pirates will head out on the road to face off against the Lemon Bay Manta Rays at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Port Charlotte will be hoping to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each match than the last.
Port Charlotte owes their pitching crew a big pat on the back after their performance on Wednesday. They blew past IMG Academy Blue 9-0. The victory was just what Port Charlotte needed coming off of a 10-4 defeat in their prior game.
Kayvon Santana spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just zero earned runs on one hit and racked up nine Ks. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Port Charlotte let Jasper Davis and Jaxon Brown-Capo loose on the outfield. Davis scored three runs while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances, while Brown-Capo scored a run while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Reed Backstrom, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Lemon Bay made easy work of Cypress Lake on Wednesday and carried off a 9-3 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Lemon Bay.
Andrew Smith looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up just one earned run but no hits.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Jake Patrick, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 2-for-2. Joel Vazquez was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-4.
Port Charlotte is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-5 record this season. As for Lemon Bay, their victory bumped their record up to 7-10.
Port Charlotte came out on top in a nail-biter against Lemon Bay when the teams last played back in April of 2023, sneaking past 2-1. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Lemon Bay's Brady Ham, who struck out eight batters over six innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be that much easier for Port Charlotte to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
