The Marco Island Academy Rays will head out to challenge the Golden Gate Titans at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.
Marco Island Academy is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They never let Everglades City get on the board and left with a 26-0 victory last Wednesday. The team's explosion at the plate also rewarded the Rays with their most commanding win of the season.
Golden Gate never got on the board in their matchup on Monday, but that sure wasn't the case in their game against Lely on Wednesday. They were the clear victors by a 10-0 margin over the Trojans. The result was nothing new for the Titans, who have now won five matchups by eight runs or more so far this season.
The result came thanks to Eli Rodriguez's shutout, as he gave up just two hits and racked up seven Ks.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Jaden Valdez, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, two stolen bases, and three runs. Golden Gate is 2-1 when Valdez posts two or more stolen bases, but 3-5 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Jonh Mairena, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with three stolen bases, two runs, and two doubles.
Golden Gate always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .548. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Lely only posted an OBP of .136.
Marco Island Academy has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a nice bump to their 4-3 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.5 runs over those games. As for Golden Gate, their record is now 5-6.
Marco Island Academy suffered a grim 22-3 defeat to Golden Gate in their previous meeting two weeks ago. Can the Rays avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
