On Thursday, Columbus faced Stoneman Douglas in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The Columbus Explorers walked away with a 9-6 victory over the Stoneman Douglas Eagles. The win was familiar territory for Columbus who now have six in a row.
Columbus got a great performance from Mathew Rios as he pitched six innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off two hits. Rios has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in three consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Rene Ramirez was incredible, firing off two home runs and three RBI while going 2-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Zahir Barjam, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with a home run, two runs, and a stolen base.
On Stoneman Douglas' side, Devin Fitz-Gerald and Erick Torres did some serious damage despite the final result: Fitz-Gerald scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances, while Torres scored two runs while going 2-for-2. Another player making a difference was Nick Diaz, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
Even though they lost, Stoneman Douglas didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with eight strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Columbus only tossed three.
Columbus' victory bumped their record up to 14-4. As for Stoneman Douglas, their defeat ended a 20-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 14-5.
Columbus will take on Sunset at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Columbus will be looking to keep their 19-game home win streak dating back to last season alive. As for Stoneman Douglas, they will head out on the road to take on Flanagan at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Stoneman Douglas is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 7 runs per game this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
