North Marion and Keystone Heights are an even 5-5 against one another since March of 2016, but likely not for long. The North Marion Colts will head out on the road to square off against the Keystone Heights Indians at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. North Marion is coming into the game hot, having won their last five games.
Last Friday, North Marion was able to grind out a solid victory over Forest, taking the game 7-2.
Ayden Gonzalez was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Gonzalez was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI.
In other pitching news, Maddox Roberts looked comfortable as he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits (he also didn't allow any walks).
Gonzalez wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Luis Reyes, who went 1-for-3 with three RBI and a stolen base. Another player making a difference was John Collins, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Keystone Heights didn't have quite enough to beat Orange Park on Friday and fell 3-1. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest runs Keystone Heights has scored all season.
Andru Siemer was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-2.
North Marion is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 8-9 record this season. As for Keystone Heights, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 12-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. North Marion has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Keystone Heights struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.2. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
North Marion couldn't quite finish off Keystone Heights when the teams last played back in February and fell 4-2. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Keystone Heights' Austin Musgrove, who tossed five innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. Now that North Marion knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
