The Fort Walton Beach Vikings will be playing in front of their home fans against the Milton Panthers at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Fort Walton Beach is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 6.1 runs per game this season.
Last Thursday, Fort Walton Beach came up short against Niceville and fell 6-3.
Ava Smith spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned (and four unearned) runs on nine hits and racked up six Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than six innings in five consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Fort Walton Beach saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Hannah Isham, who scored two runs while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Milton, who bounced back after a tough loss on the road on Tuesday. They came out on top against Navarre by a score of 4-1 on Friday.
Milton also let their pitcher toss all seven innings and she was also dialed-in: Gracie Bonds gave up only one earned run on four hits.
At the plate, Gracie Ueberroth was excellent, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.
Fort Walton Beach's loss dropped their record down to 13-10. As for Milton, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 11-8 record this season.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Tuesday. Fort Walton Beach hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.7 home runs per game. However, it's not like Milton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.4. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Everything went Fort Walton Beach's way against Milton when the teams last played back in February as Fort Walton Beach made off with a 12-6 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Milton's Hallie Ueberroth, who fired off two home runs and three RBI while going 2-for-3. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Fort Walton Beach still be able to contain Ueberroth? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
