After eight games on the road, East Lake is heading back home. They will take on the Tarpon Springs Spongers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams have allowed few runs on average, (East Lake: 1.5, Tarpon Springs: 3.4) so any runs scored will be well earned.
On Tuesday, East Lake faced Calvary Christian in a battle between two of the state's top teams. East Lake fell 10-5 to Calvary Christian.
Andrew Sheffield was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring two runs while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Daniel Spicher, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Tarpon Springs scored the most runs they've had all season to find success on Monday. Everything went their way against Gibbs as Tarpon Springs made off with a 13-2 victory. Considering Tarpon Springs has won five matchups by more than eight runs this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.
Dereck Tyler made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out ten over four innings pitched. Tyler was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, Joey Matera and Matthew Beckett did most of the damage at the plate: Matera scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances, while Beckett scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3. Carson Tibbits was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in all two of his plate appearances.
East Lake's loss ended a five-game streak of away wins and brought them to 13-2. As for Tarpon Springs, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 10-6.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. East Lake has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Tarpon Springs struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.7. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Everything went East Lake's way against Tarpon Springs when the teams last played back in April of 2023 as East Lake made off with a 15-0 victory. Does East Lake have another victory up their sleeve, or will Tarpon Springs turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
