The Sunlake Seahawks will head out to challenge the Wiregrass Ranch Bulls at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (Sunlake 2.7, Wiregrass Ranch 2.9) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Sunlake fell victim to Land O' Lakes and their airtight pitching crew on Friday. They fell just short of the Gators by a score of 1-0. The Seahawks have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Josh Rogerson was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out seven over 5.2 innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up a single earned run in three consecutive appearances.
Meanwhile, Wiregrass Ranch didn't have quite enough to beat Cypress Creek on Friday and fell 4-3.
Wiregrass Ranch also got a good showing from Ryan Simmons, who tossed 3.1 innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits.
On the hitting side, KJ Cain was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Max Fowler, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-2.
Wiregrass Ranch dropped their record down to 3-6 with the loss, which was their fifth straight on the road. Even worse, they were so close so many times: the defeats came by an average of only 1.4 runs. As for Sunlake, they now have a losing record of 4-5.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Sunlake has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Wiregrass Ranch struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Sunlake came out on top in a nail-biter against Wiregrass Ranch in their previous matchup back in February, sneaking past 2-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for Sunlake since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
