The Scott County Cardinals will head out to challenge the Melbourne Central Catholic Hustlers at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Scott County will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak.
Scott County's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They were the clear victors by a 10-0 margin over Chicago Christian. Considering the Cardinals have won four games by more than eight runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Jack Willhite tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowed only two hits over five innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one walk in four consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Scott County let Sebastian Arden and Will Rose run wild. Arden scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances, while Rose scored three runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3. Parker Dotson was another key player, scoring a run while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances.
Scott County always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .516. The last time their OBP was this high was back in April of 2024.
Meanwhile, Melbourne Central Catholic suffered their closest defeat since February 17th on Tuesday. They fell just short of Eau Gallie by a score of 2-0. The contest marked the first time this year in which the Hustlers were not able to get on the board.
Melbourne Central Catholic saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Thomas Chiuchiolo, who went 1-for-3 with one double.
Scott County's record now sits at 8-2. As for Melbourne Central Catholic, their loss dropped their record down to 10-8.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Scott County has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Melbourne Central Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Scott County came out on top in a nail-biter against Melbourne Central Catholic in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, sneaking past 2-0. Will the Cardinals repeat their success, or do the Hustlers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
