The Palm Beach Gardens Gators will square off against the Forest Hill Falcons at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Palm Beach Gardens is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 9.2 runs per game this season.
On Friday, Palm Beach Gardens didn't have quite enough to beat Jensen Beach and fell 6-5.
Ian Vertucci
| 02/21/25 @ Jensen Beach | 3 |
| 02/10/25 @ Atlantic | 2 |
| 04/29/24 vs Royal Palm Beach | 2 |
| 04/11/24 @ Suncoast | 2 |
| 04/01/24 @ Jupiter | 2 |
Palm Beach Gardens saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ian Vertucci, who scored two runs while going 3-for-4. The dominant performance also gave Vertucci a new career-high in hits (three). Mason Ryder also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Forest Hill). They put the hurt on Atlantic with a sharp 21-6 victory on Thursday. The win was nothing new for the Falcons as they're now sitting on three straight.
Julian DeJesus made a splash no matter where he played. He didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out seven over four innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, getting on base in four of his five plate appearances with five RBI, three runs, and one triple.
In other batting news, David Olavarria was a standout: he scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Nicholas Castro, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 1-for-1.
Forest Hill always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .644. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Forest Hill's victory bumped their record up to 3-4. As for Palm Beach Gardens, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-3.
Forest Hill's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Palm Beach Gardens hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having hit 0 of their hits per game. It's a different story for Forest Hill, though, as they've only hit 0 of their hits this season. Will they be able to contain Palm Beach Gardens' hitters?
Palm Beach Gardens took their win against Forest Hill when the teams last played back in April of 2022 by a conclusive 15-5. Does Palm Beach Gardens have another victory up their sleeve, or will Forest Hill turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
