The Wiregrass Ranch Bulls will venture away from home to square off against the Land O' Lakes Gators at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Wiregrass Ranch has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the contest with four straight defeats, while Land O' Lakes will come in with six straight victories.
Wiregrass Ranch lost 11-5 to IMG Academy Navy on Wednesday.
Pedro Castro put in work no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Castro was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBI.
In other batting news, Luis Castro made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI.
Meanwhile, Land O' Lakes sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 3-2 win over Nature Coast Tech on Thursday.
Zachary Kelly tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run over six innings pitched. He has been consistent : he hasn't given up more than one earned run in eight consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Land O' Lakes saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Christian Vollsteadt, who scored a run while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances. Trevor Wildman was another, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
Land O' Lakes' record is now 14-8. As for Wiregrass Ranch, their loss dropped their record down to 4-11.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Wiregrass Ranch has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Land O' Lakes struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Wiregrass Ranch couldn't quite get it done against Land O' Lakes in their previous meeting on Tuesday as they fell 4-1. Can the Bulls avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
