The Eau Gallie Commodores will venture away from home to challenge the Merritt Island Mustangs at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (Eau Gallie: 1.4, Merritt Island: 1.1) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Eau Gallie's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They blew past Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy 8-0. The matchup marked the Commodores' most dominant victory of the season so far.
Brock Lustic made a splash no matter where he played. He didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out six over six innings pitched. Lustic was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one home run and one double. What's more, he posted two hits, the most he's had since back in March of 2024.
Carson Lietz
| 02/21/25 @ Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy | 3 |
| 02/11/25 vs Cocoa Beach | 2 |
| 04/30/24 vs Port St. Lucie | 2 |
| 04/09/24 @ Melbourne Central Catholic | 2 |
| 02/20/25 @ Cocoa Beach | 1 |
In other batting news, Carson Lietz was incredible, firing off two home runs, six RBI, and one stolen base while going 3-for-4. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in hits (three). Kevin Dillon also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
Eau Gallie was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .375. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Merritt Island). They were the clear victor by a 19-0 margin over Astronaut on Wednesday. With that win, the Mustangs brought their scoring average up to 7.9 runs per game.
Braeden Rouleau was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going a perfect 2-for-2 with two RBI.
In other batting news, Merritt Island got a massive performance out of Ty Brandes, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Liam Miller, who scored two runs while going 2-for-2.
The victory (which was Merritt Island's third in a row) raised their record to 6-1. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.0 runs over those games. As for Eau Gallie, their win ended a six-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 3-2.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Eau Gallie has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Merritt Island struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
