The Taft Eagles will face off against the Whitney Young Dolphins at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Taft easily dispatched Jones on Saturday, but unfortunately both the margin and the ultimate result were a different story in this one. The Eagles fell just short of Chicago Hope Academy by a score of 10-8 on Tuesday. The Eagles' defeat signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.
Andrew Korolis made the most of his time in the batter's box despite the final result and went 2-for-5 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run. Another player making a difference was Carlos Gonzalez, who went 2-for-4 with one run and one double.
Meanwhile, Whitney Young had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4.3 runs) and they went ahead and made it five on Saturday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Champions, sneaking past 7-5.
Rayteng Skotmyr got the start for Whitney Young and what a start it was: he pitched 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Levi Agulnek relieved him and did a solid job, not allowing a single earned run over 4.1 innings pitched.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Arnie Rosenband, who went 2-for-4 with two runs and one triple. He has become a key player for Whitney Young: the team is 8-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 10-11 otherwise. Theo Kimmeth was another key player, going 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI.
Whitney Young's victory bumped their record up to 18-12. As for Taft, they now have a losing record of 13-14.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Thursday as neither team is afraid to steal. Taft has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Whitney Young struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 3.2 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Taft couldn't quite finish off Whitney Young in their previous meeting on May 1st and fell 6-4. Can the Eagles avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
