The Lake Minneola Hawks will be defending their home field for the first time this season when they go up against the Mount Dora Hurricanes at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are strolling into their matchups after big wins in their previous games.
Lake Minneola will roll into the game after a wild two-game stretch: they didn't score any runs on Friday, then bounced right back against Tavares on Tuesday. Lake Minneola was the clear victors by an 11-1 margin over Tavares. The high-scoring performance was a welcome turnaround for the Hawks' hitters, who had struggled in the games prior.
Brayden Richter looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit.
On the hitting side, Chase Dougherty was excellent, scoring a run while going 3-for-4. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in RBI (two). Nolan Bultema also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
Lake Minneola kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That's the most hits they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Mount Dora). Everything went their way against Leesburg on Tuesday as Mount Dora made off with a 15-2 win. The Hurricanes haven't had any issues with the Yellow Jackets recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive victory against them.
James Carroll tossed a big game, striking out six batters over five innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits (and not a single walk).
At the plate, Parker Blanton and Noah Macinness did most of the damage at the plate: Blanton went 3-for-4 with five RBI, two runs, and one double, while Macinness scored two runs and stole three bases while going 2-for-4. Another player making a difference was Brady Smith, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3.
Mount Dora now has a winning record of 4-3. As for Lake Minneola, they picked up their first road win, bumping their record up to 2-3.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Lake Minneola has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Mount Dora struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.1 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Lake Minneola came up short against Mount Dora in their previous meeting back in February of 2018, falling 4-0. Will Lake Minneola have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.
