The Coral Reef Barracudas will take on the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders in a tournament on Friday. The two teams are strolling into their matches after big wins in their previous games.
Coral Reef's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Monday. Everything went their way against Palmetto as Coral Reef made off with an 11-0 victory. The win continues a trend for the Barracudas in their matchups with the Panthers: they've now won six in a row.
Erin Zambrano and Quinley Wylie were a major factor no matter where they played. On the mound, Zambrano struck out seven batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and not a single walk). Meanwhile, Wylie pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Zambrano has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up a single earned run any time she's pitched this season. At bat, Zambrano scored a run while going 1-for-2, while Wylie scored two runs while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, Coral Reef let Brianna Fields and Chloe Junco run wild. Fields went 1-for-4 with one home run and two runs, while Junco went 2-for-3 with one triple, one run, and one RBI. Those runs marked the first that Fields scored this season. Avery Clegg was another key player, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
Coral Reef was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .444. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Palmetto only posted a batting average of .118.
Meanwhile, St. Thomas Aquinas came into Thursday's contest having lost three straight, but that streak is now in the rearview. They blew past Somerset Academy 14-2 on Thursday.
Lavinia Miller tossed a big game, tossing five innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Reese Randall, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Brianna Sims, who scored a run while going 2-for-2.
Coral Reef pushed their record up to 6-1 with the victory, which was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to hits: they averaged an imposing 12.57 hits in those games compared to only five in the others. As for St. Thomas Aquinas, their win bumped their record up to 2-3.
St. Thomas Aquinas' hitters will have their work cut out for them on Friday. Coral Reef has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.9 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for St. Thomas Aquinas, though, as they've been averaging only 3.8 strikeouts. Will Coral Reef keep running through batters, or will St. Thomas Aquinas buck the trend?
Coral Reef couldn't quite get it done against St. Thomas Aquinas in their previous meeting back in April of 2024 as they fell 8-4. Can Coral Reef avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
