The Manatee Hurricanes will take on the Winter Haven Blue Devils at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Manatee 2.2, Winter Haven 2) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Manatee's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They came out on top against Parrish Community by a score of 3-0. The win was a breath of fresh air for the Hurricanes as it put an end to their three-game losing streak.
Ashton Hovda made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He struck out six batters over 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and only one walk). Hovda was also big at the plate, getting on base in five of his six plate appearances with two stolen bases and one triple. That triple marked the first that he has hit this season.
Hovda wasn't the only one making solid contact as two players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Jayden McKenzie, who went 1-for-4 with one stolen base. Bryan Rodriguez also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
Meanwhile, it may have taken eight innings to finish the job, but Winter Haven ultimately got the result they hoped for on Friday. They beat Inspiration Academy by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 4-1. While the Blue Devils didn't have the best season last year (they finished 12-15), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.
Winter Haven's victory bumped their record up to 4-0. As for Manatee, their win bumped their record up to 2-3.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
