The Spruce Creek Hawks will be taking part in a tournament against the Flagler Palm Coast Bulldogs at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Spruce Creek has seven straight wins, Flagler Palm Coast has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Spruce Creek lost a heartbreaker the last time they played Timber Creek, but it's fair to say they got their revenge given the result of Friday's game. Spruce Creek's pitcher stepped up to hand Timber Creek an 8-0 shutout on Friday. The result was nothing new for the Hawks, who have now won ten contests by eight runs or more so far this season.
Not much got past Garrett Grant, who gave up just a hit and racked up seven Ks to keep Timber Creek off the board. Grant has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks any time he's pitched this season.
Nathan Ricko
| 03/28/25 @ Timber Creek | 3 |
| 03/20/25 vs Windermere | 1 |
| 03/18/25 vs Beachside | 1 |
| 03/17/25 vs Viera | 1 |
| 03/13/25 @ Seabreeze | 1 |
On the hitting side, Nathan Ricko and Justin Cronin did most of the damage at the plate: Ricko scored three runs while going 3-for-4, while Cronin scored a run while going 2-for-3. Those three runs gave Ricko a new career-high. Mason Sanders was another key player, going 1-for-2 with two RBI.
Spruce Creek was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .406. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in five consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Flagler Palm Coast didn't have quite enough to beat Bishop Snyder on Friday and fell 10-9.
Flagler Palm Coast also got a good showing from Brody Mcginty, who tossed four innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit.
At the plate, Marion Clayton was cooking despite his team's loss, firing off two home runs and three RBI while going 2-for-4. He also scored two runs, which is notable because Flagler Palm Coast is 5-2 when he posts at least two runs, but 2-11 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Carson Flis, who scored two runs while going 1-for-3.
Spruce Creek's victory bumped their record up to 17-2. As for Flagler Palm Coast, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-13.
Spruce Creek took their win against Flagler Palm Coast in their previous meeting back in February by a conclusive 17-0. Will Spruce Creek repeat their success, or does Flagler Palm Coast has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
