The Lakewood Spartans will venture away from home to take on the Pinellas Park Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Lakewood has given up an average of 9.9 runs per game this season, so hopefully the team got some pitching drills in this week.
For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Lakewood and Clearwater meet (three straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Friday. Lakewood came up short against Clearwater, falling 17-9. One positive for the Spartans, at least, is that this was the most points they've scored all season.
Christian Burney was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4. What's more, he posted two doubles, the most he's had since back in February of 2024. Walker Hoffman was another key player, scoring two runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Pinellas Park entered their match against Northeast on Friday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Pinellas Park fell just short of Northeast by a score of 4-2. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Patriots have suffered against the Vikings since March 6, 2020.
Neil Rothrock made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-2.
This is the second loss in a row for Pinellas Park and nudges their season record down to 4-7. As for Lakewood, their loss dropped their record down to 1-9.
Lakewood might still be hurting after the 12-4 defeat they got from Pinellas Park in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Can Lakewood 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
