Baseball Preview: Marco Island Academy Rays vs. Seacrest Country Day Stingrays
The Marco Island Academy Rays have the luxury of staying home for another game and will welcome the Seacrest Country Day Stingrays at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Marco Island Academy is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 8.8 runs per game this season.
Marco Island Academy put the finishing touches on their sixth blowout victory of the season on Thursday. They put the hurt on The Village School of Naples with a sharp 11-1 victory. That's two games straight that Marco Island Academy has won by exactly ten runs.
Akiel Jimenez made a splash while hitting and pitching. He struck out nine batters over 4.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits (and not a single walk). Jimenez has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in six consecutive pitching appearances. Jimenez was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, Grayson Jones was incredible, going 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs. Caleb Garwood was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, Tuesday just wasn't the day for Seacrest Country Day's offense. They suffered a tough 10-0 loss at the hands of Naples on Tuesday. Having soared to a lofty 18 runs in the game before, Seacrest Country Day's shutout was a dramatic turnaround.
Seacrest Country Day saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Gabe Espinosa, who went 1-for-2 with a stolen base.
Marco Island Academy pushed their record up to 7-6 with that win, which was their fifth straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 14.8 runs per game. As for Seacrest Country Day, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost four of their last five games, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-9 record this season.
Friday's matchup might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. Marco Island Academy has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .456. However, it's not like Seacrest Country Day struggles in that department as they've averaged .435. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Marco Island Academy came up short against Seacrest Country Day in their previous matchup back in March, falling 3-0. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Espinosa, who kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 14 over seven innings pitched. Now that Marco Island Academy knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
