The Beachside Barracudas will venture away from home to face off against the Creekside Knights at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Beachside's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. Everything went their way against Fleming Island as they made off with a 6-0 victory.
Riley Hofrichter
| 04/02/25 @ Fleming Island | 12 |
| 03/07/25 vs Episcopal School of Jacksonville | 9 |
| 03/28/24 vs Paxon School For Advanced Studies | 9 |
| 03/13/25 @ Fernandina Beach | 8 |
| 03/08/24 vs Foundation Academy | 7 |
Riley Hofrichter tossed a big game, keeping things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 12 over six innings pitched. Those 12 strikeouts gave him a new career-high.
On the hitting side, Brennan Monaco was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 1-for-2. Those two stolen bases gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Jason Gillespie, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base, one double, and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Creekside is ranked highly in their home state and on Wednesday they took on another highly ranked team in the form of Lowndes. The Knights came out on top in a nail-biter against the Vikings, sneaking past 2-1. Winning may never get old, but the Knights sure are getting used to it with their fourth in a row.
Matthew Bysheim spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on five hits. He has been consistent : he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Creekside saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Parker Morton, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base and one RBI. Morton has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played.
Beachside has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 6-14 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Creekside, their victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-7.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Beachside has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.6 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Creekside struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.1 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Beachside might still be hurting after the 11-3 defeat they got from Creekside when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Can the Barracudas avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
