The Carrollwood Day Patriots will head out on the road to take on the Clearwater Central Catholic Marauders at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Carrollwood Day's pitching crew has only allowed three runs per game this season, so Clearwater Central Catholic's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Carrollwood Day took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Bishop McLaughlin Catholic 3-2.
Carrollwood Day got a great performance from Evan Mazur as he pitched five innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. Mazur has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Carrollwood Day saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Steven Vargo, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Carrollwood Day hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Bishop McLaughlin Catholic struck out seven times.
Meanwhile, Clearwater Central Catholic earned an 8-3 win over St. Petersburg on Monday. That looming 8-3 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for the Marauders yet this season.
Luke Brkljacic was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (five). He was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 3-for-4.
In other pitching news, Zach Wheeler tossed a big game, pitching five innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off five hits. Those hits marked the first that he allowed this season.
Back at the plate, the team relied heavily on Austin Snyder, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3. Those three runs gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Kyle Granese, who went 2-for-4 with three RBI.
Carrollwood Day pushed their record up to 13-7 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Clearwater Central Catholic, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 7-15.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Carrollwood Day has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Clearwater Central Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.5 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Carrollwood Day came out on top in a nail-biter against Clearwater Central Catholic in their previous meeting back in March, sneaking past 5-4. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Patriots since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
