The Vanguard Knights will challenge the Matanzas Pirates at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Vanguard has three straight wins, Matanzas has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Vanguard barely beat Belleview the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. Vanguard's pitcher stepped up to hand Belleview a 6-0 shutout on Thursday. Considering the Knights have won six matchups by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Cooper Ragle
| 03/13/25 vs Belleview | 12 |
| 02/28/25 @ Santa Fe | 8 |
| 02/13/25 vs Santa Fe | 7 |
| 03/07/25 @ Forest | 6 |
| 04/30/24 vs Leesburg | 6 |
The result came thanks to Cooper Ragle's shutout, as he gave up just five hits and racked up 12 Ks. Those 12 strikeouts gave him a new career-high.
At the plate, Vanguard's victory was truly a team effort as six different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Clayton ?CT? Antonucci, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Matanzas didn't have quite enough to beat Palatka on Friday and fell 6-5.
Dylan Vanderbur made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and scored two runs and stole Two bases. while going 2-for-2. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played. Wiley Connor was another key player, scoring a run and stealing Two bases. while going 2-for-3.
Vanguard pushed their record up to 10-3 with the win, which was their eighth straight at home. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.6 runs on average over those games. As for Matanzas, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-13.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Monday as neither team is afraid to steal. Vanguard has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.5 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Matanzas struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.1 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Vanguard skirted past Matanzas 6-5 when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Does Vanguard have another victory up their sleeve, or will Matanzas turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
