Matanzas is 2-7 against Father Lopez since March of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Matanzas Pirates will look to defend their home field against the Father Lopez Green Wave at 6:00 p.m. Father Lopez took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Matanzas, who comes in off a win.
On Tuesday, Matanzas narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Palatka 5-4. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Matanzas.
Josh Cope was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out eight batters over 5.2 innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off seven hits (and only one walk). Cope was also big at the plate, going 1-for-4 with three RBI and a double.
In other pitching news, Seth Avellar looked comfortable as he pitched an inning while giving up no earned runs or hits (he also only allowed one walk).
Cope wasn't the only one making solid contact as two players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Wiley Conner, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Father Lopez was not able to break out of their rough patch on Monday as the team picked up their sixth straight loss. They fell just short of Palatka by a score of 5-3.
Father Lopez saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Will Grim, who went 1-for-3 with a triple.
Matanzas' victory bumped their record up to 8-9. As for Father Lopez, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-12.
Matanzas couldn't quite finish off Father Lopez in their previous matchup back in March and fell 5-3. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Father Lopez's Spencer Beatrice, who didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out six over four innings pitched. Now that Matanzas knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
