The Coral Reef Barracudas are taking a road trip to face off against the Miami Springs Golden Hawks at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.
The home team had won the previous six meetings between Coral Reef and Southridge, and Coral Reef kept the tradition alive. Coral Reef lost 7-1 to Southridge on Thursday. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest loss the Barracudas have suffered against the Spartans since March 11, 2019.
Coral Reef got a good showing from Alex Boix, who tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Boix has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one walk in four consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Coral Reef saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Dylan Castro, who went 1-for-3 with one double and one RBI. That double marked the first that Castro hit this season.
Meanwhile, Miami Springs put another one in the bag on Monday to keep their perfect season alive. They came out on top against St. Brendan by a score of 5-2.
Kevin Roque tossed a big game, pitching five innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits.
On the hitting side, Yordan Torres and Jordanny Gonzalez did most of the damage at the plate: Torres scored two runs while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances, while Gonzalez scored a run while going 3-for-4. The team also got some help courtesy of Kelven Perera, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Miami Springs hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now struck out at most five strikeouts in four consecutive matchups.
Miami Springs pushed their record up to 6-0 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs over those games. As for Coral Reef, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-6.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Coral Reef has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Miami Springs struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Coral Reef might still be hurting after the 8-0 loss they got from Miami Springs in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. Can Coral Reef avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
