The Middleburg Broncos will take on the Fleming Island Golden Eagles at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Middleburg is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Monday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Orange Park an 11-0 shutout. The victory continues a trend for the Broncos in their matchups with the Raiders: they've now won seven in a row.
Karleigh Sanford
| 04/28/25 vs Orange Park | 10 |
| 03/31/25 vs Fletcher | 9 |
| 02/28/25 vs Episcopal School of Jacksonville | 4 |
| 02/20/25 vs Baldwin | 4 |
| 04/17/25 @ Ponte Vedra | 3 |
Middleburg got a great performance from Karleigh Sanford as she didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Those ten strikeouts gave Sanford a new career-high.
On the hitting side, Emma Ward was a standout: she got on base in all four of her plate appearances with two runs, two RBI, and one double. That's the most runs she has posted since back in February. Another player making a difference was Madisyn Strickland, who went 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI.
Meanwhile, Fleming Island had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.6 runs) and they went ahead and made it six on Monday. They were the clear victors by an 8-0 margin over the Panthers. That's two games straight that the Golden Eagles have won by exactly eight runs.
Not much got past Mallory Blackwell, who gave up just three hits and racked up six Ks to keep Ridgeview off the board. Blackwell has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in six consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Ashlyn Madine and Anisten Kurlander did most of the damage at the plate: Madine went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI, while Kurlander went 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI. Jolee Rich was another key player, going 2-for-3 with two doubles and one RBI.
Fleming Island kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least nine hits in seven consecutive contests.
Fleming Island's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-6. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Middleburg, their win bumped their record up to 17-8.
Middleburg beat Fleming Island 3-0 when the teams last played back in April of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Broncos since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
