The Haines City Hornets will venture away from home to take on the Victory Christian Academy Storm at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Haines City has now lost 12 straight, leaving the team hunting for their first win since February 17.
Haines City fought the good fight in their extra-innings matchup against Ridge Community on Wednesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They came up short against the Bolts, falling 7-1.
Victory Christian Academy hadn't beaten Lake Gibson on the road since April 13, 2023 but that history sure didn't bother them on Tuesday. Victory Christian Academy put the hurt on Lake Gibson with a sharp 12-1 win. The result was nothing new for the Storm, who have now won eight games by six runs or more so far this season.
Nate Thomas was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out six over six innings pitched. Furthermore, he didn't allow a single hit, the first time he has blanked an opponent since back in February. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, four runs, and one double. Those three hits gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, Braylon Mitchell and Cam Spence did most of the damage at the plate: Mitchell scored three runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances, while Spence scored two runs while going 2-for-2. The dominant performance also gave Spence a new career-high in RBI (two). Another player making a difference was Cru Slocum, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one double.
Victory Christian Academy is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 11-4 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.8 runs over those games. Haines City's loss dropped their record down to 1-15.
Haines City might still be hurting after the 13-3 defeat they got from Victory Christian Academy when the teams last played back in February. Can Haines City avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
