Charlotte has enjoyed the comforts of home their last four games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will challenge the Port Charlotte Pirates at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Charlotte and Port Charlotte are at an even 5-5 over their past ten head-to-heads.
Last Wednesday, it was a hard-fought match, but Charlotte had to settle for a 6-5 loss against North Port.
Jacob Evak made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and scored a run while going 1-for-4. Another player making a difference was Dominic Giglio, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
Even though they lost, Charlotte was hitting in the alleys and finished the game with four doubles. That's the most doubles they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Port Charlotte entered their tilt with IMG Academy Royal with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They put the hurt on the Ascenders with a sharp 9-3 victory on Wednesday.
Port Charlotte also got a great performance from Kayvon Santana as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out nine over 5.1 innings pitched. Santana has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Adrian Nina was excellent, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played. Reed Backstrom was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 1-for-3.
Charlotte's defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 11-10. As for Port Charlotte, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 16-5 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Charlotte has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Port Charlotte struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.8. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Charlotte came up short against Port Charlotte in their previous matchup back in March, falling 6-3. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Port Charlotte's Landon Carter, who struck out nine batters over five innings while giving up just two earned runs off seven hits (and only one walk). Now that Charlotte knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
