The Piper Bengals will venture away from home to face off against the Cypress Bay Lightning at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Piper will be looking to extend their current six-game winning streak.
While Piper's victory against Olympic Heights wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. Piper sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-3 win over Olympic Heights on Tuesday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Bengals have posted since February 11th.
Joel Arroyo
| 03/18/25 vs Olympic Heights | 1 |
| 03/17/25 @ Boyd Anderson | 1 |
| 02/26/25 @ Olympic Heights | 1 |
Joel Arroyo was excellent, going 1-for-3 with one home run and one stolen base. He is on a roll when it comes to home runs, as he's now launched at least one in each of the last three games he's played. Julius Torres also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Cypress Bay not only won on Wednesday, but they posted their biggest win since February 25th. They blew past Pompano Beach 9-3. The win was nothing new for the Lightning as they're now sitting on four straight.
Gabe Gener tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run while striking out nine over five innings pitched.
On the hitting side, Cypress Bay let Diego Baron and Santiago Sanchez run wild. Baron went 2-for-3 with one triple, two RBI, and one run, while Sanchez scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-2. That's the most hits Baron has posted since back in February. The team also got some help courtesy of Lian Geronimo, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
Cypress Bay hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their strikeout total in three consecutive matches.
Cypress Bay pushed their record up to 9-6 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Piper, their record is now 9-2-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Piper has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.6 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Cypress Bay struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Piper came out on top in a nail-biter against Cypress Bay in their previous meeting back in April of 2022, sneaking past 8-7. Does Piper have another victory up their sleeve, or will Cypress Bay turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
