Baseball Game Preview: West Orange Warriors vs. Freedom Patriots

The West Orange Warriors are taking a road trip to take on the Freedom Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. West Orange's pitching crew has only allowed 2.6 runs per game this season, so Freedom's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

West Orange fell victim to Winter Park and their airtight pitching crew on Tuesday. They took a 5-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Wildcats. The Warriors' loss signaled the end of their ten-game winning streak.

West Orange got a good showing from Sims McClusky, who tossed 3.1 innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. McClusky has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one walk in six consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, West Orange saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Miguel Acosta, who went 2-for-3 with one double.

Meanwhile, Freedom entered their tilt with Colonial on Tuesday with four consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with five. They never let the Grenadiers get on the board and left with a 10-0 win.

Freedom also got a great performance from Marcus Alf as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out seven over five innings pitched. Those seven strikeouts gave Alf a new career-high.

At the plate, Joel Santiago was a standout: he scored three runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Those three runs gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Juan Pablo Gatica, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.

Freedom pushed their record up to 10-13 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for West Orange, their defeat dropped their record down to 18-5.

Everything went West Orange's way against Freedom when the teams last played back in March of 2024, as West Orange made off with an 11-1 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Warriors since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.