Baseball Preview: West Florida Jaguars vs. South Walton Seahawks
The West Florida Jaguars will take on the South Walton Seahawks at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (West Florida: 3.8, South Walton: 3) so any runs scored will be well earned.
West Florida took a loss when they played away from home on Wednesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They put the hurt on Pine Forest with a sharp 10-2 victory. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for West Florida considering their two-run performance the game before.
The team relied heavily on Hayden Huntsinger, who went 3-for-3 with three RBI and a triple. Another player making a difference was Jayden Thomas, who scored three runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
Meanwhile, South Walton had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 3.7 runs), and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 2-1 win over the Dolphins.
Carter Ward looked comfortable as he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Jackson Perkins, who went 3-for-4 with a stolen base and an RBI.
West Florida's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 18-6. As for South Walton, they are on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last 11 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 15-10 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. West Florida has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like South Walton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
West Florida came up short against South Walton in their previous matchup back in May of 2023, falling 3-0. Can West Florida avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
