The Lake Minneola Hawks are on the road again on Thursday to play the Lecanto Panthers at 6:30 p.m. Lake Minneola's pitching crew has only allowed 3.5 runs per game this season, so Lecanto's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
On Tuesday, it was a hard-fought game, but Lake Minneola had to settle for a 5-4 defeat against East Ridge.
Fabian Antensanti was cooking despite his team's loss, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with a home run, two stolen bases, and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Tyler Pierre, who went 1-for-2 with a stolen base and a double.
Lecanto has not done well against South Sumter recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Lecanto came out on top in a nail-biter against South Sumter and snuck past 8-7. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Lecanto.
Vinny Cappuccilli was excellent, scoring two runs while going 2-for-3. Garrett Pitzer was another key contributor, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.
Lake Minneola's loss dropped their record down to 7-4. As for Lecanto, the win got them back to even at 5-5.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Lake Minneola has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Lecanto struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.2 per game. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Everything went Lake Minneola's way against Lecanto when the teams last played back in March of 2023 as Lake Minneola made off with a 15-2 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Lake Minneola since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
