The Plant City Raiders will square off against the Wharton Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (Plant City 3.2, Wharton 2.9) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Plant City blew Chamberlain out of the water the last time the pair played, but on Monday Chamberlain got their revenge. Plant City fell just short of Chamberlain by a score of 4-2. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Raiders have suffered since April 29, 2024.
Merrick Smith spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned (and two unearned) runs on eight hits and racked up nine Ks. Those nine strikeouts gave him a new career-high.
Salvadore Jaramillo
| 03/17/25 vs Chamberlain | 2 |
| 03/15/25 vs Leto | 1 |
| 03/11/25 vs Bloomingdale | 1 |
| 03/08/25 vs Armwood | 1 |
| 02/25/25 @ Spoto | 1 |
At the plate, Plant City saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Salvadore Jaramillo, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base and one RBI. The dominant performance gave Jaramillo a new career-high in hits.
Meanwhile, Wharton had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.7 runs) and they went ahead and made it four on Monday. They walked away with an 8-5 victory over the Falcons.
The team relied heavily on Antonio Fawcett, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
Wharton lost a few balls and finished the game with three home runs. That's the most home runs they've managed all season.
Wharton pushed their record up to 12-2 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.8 runs on average over those games. As for Plant City, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-7.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Plant City has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Wharton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.4 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Plant City might still be hurting after the 7-1 loss they got from Wharton in their previous meeting on Thursday. Can Plant City avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
