Baseball Preview: Melbourne Bulldogs vs. Vero Beach Indians
The Melbourne Bulldogs will head out on the road to take on the Vero Beach Indians at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Melbourne comes in on three and Vero Beach on 12.
Last Wednesday, Melbourne got the win against Astronaut by a conclusive 14-4.
Ty Keeley looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits (he also didn't allow any walks).
At the plate, Melbourne got a massive performance out of Christian Dillard, who scored a run while going 3-for-3. Another player making a difference was Jackson Hall, who scored two runs while going 4-for-4.
Meanwhile, in what's become a running theme this season, Vero Beach gave their fans yet another huge victory on Thursday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Ketchikan a 16-0 shutout. While fans of Vero Beach might be used to big wins, the 16-run margin marked the team's biggest one yet.
Ashton Wetmiller was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (he also only allowed one walk). Wetmiller has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive pitching appearances. Wetmiller was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with two RBI.
In other batting news, Jace Romans was incredible, going 3-for-3 with four RBI, two runs, and a triple. Wyatt Scruggs was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-1.
Melbourne is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 11-8 record this season. As for Vero Beach, their record is now 15-3.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. Melbourne has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.1 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Vero Beach struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.3. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Melbourne came up short against Vero Beach in their previous meeting back in March of 2021, falling 7-2. Thankfully for Melbourne, Jake Nolan (who struck out nine batters over 6.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off five hits) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
