Softball Preview: Manatee Hurricanes vs. Palmetto Tigers
Manatee is 2-8 against Palmetto since February of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Manatee Hurricanes will challenge the Palmetto Tigers at 7:00 p.m. Manatee is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.4 runs per game this season.
Manatee will roll into the match after a wild two-game stretch: they didn't score any runs on Thursday, then bounced right back against Bradenton Christian on Friday. Manatee's pitcher stepped up to hand Bradenton Christian a 16-0 shutout. For those curious, yes, that was the biggest win Manatee has managed all season.
Naomi Oroczo was a standout: she went 3-for-4 with a home run, four runs, and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Jenna Caldwell, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Palmetto lost 8-1 to Inspiration Academy on Monday.
Palmetto saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Desiree Aitken, who got on base in three of her four plate appearances with a home run.
Manatee's victory ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 11-8. As for Palmetto, their defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 12-10.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Tuesday. Manatee hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Palmetto struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Manatee might still be hurting after the 14-0 loss they got from Palmetto in their previous meeting back in March. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Palmetto's Makenna Lee, who didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out nine over five innings pitched. Now that Manatee knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
