Suncoast is 1-6 against South Fork since March of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Suncoast Chargers will be playing at home against the South Fork Bulldogs at 6:30 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (Suncoast 3, South Fork 3.7) so any runs scored will be well earned.
South Fork will be up against a hot Suncoast team: the squad just extended their winning streak to four. Suncoast came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 5-4 W against Okeechobee.
Charlie Straub looked comfortable as he pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. What's more, he gave up only zero walks, the fewest he's had since back in February.
On the hitting side, Suncoast's win was truly a team effort as six different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Colin Campbell, who scored a run while going 1-for-4.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask South Fork). They blew past Tradition Prep 13-7 on Wednesday. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Bulldogs considering their two-run performance the game before.
Carter Markin looked comfortable as he struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because South Fork is 2-1 when he allows at most three earned runs, but 2-6 otherwise.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Will Vining, who scored three runs while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in RBI (two). Another player making a difference was Jason Dennis, who scored three runs while getting on base in all five of his plate appearances.
South Fork always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .545. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Suncoast's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 8-4. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to hits: they averaged an imposing 12.5 hits in those games compared to only 5.63 in the others. As for South Fork, their win ended a five-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 4-7.
South Fork's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Suncoast has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .432. It's a different story for South Fork, though, as they've only averaged .346. Will they be able to contain Suncoast's hitters?
Suncoast couldn't quite finish off South Fork in their previous meeting back in May of 2024 and fell 2-0. Will Suncoast have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.
