The First Coast Buccaneers will challenge the Ponte Vedra Sharks at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (First Coast 4.1, Ponte Vedra 3.6) so any runs scored will be well earned.
First Coast took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Wednesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Ribault a 5-0 shutout.
Not much got past Khalin Daniels, who gave up just four hits and racked up seven Ks to keep Ribault off the board. Daniels has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one walk in seven consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Kris Thorne, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.
First Coast hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Ribault struck out seven times.
Meanwhile, Ponte Vedra had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 2-1 W against the Toros.
Ponte Vedra also got a great performance from CJ McKenzie as he pitched five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits.
At the plate, Ponte Vedra's victory was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Jack Brady, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 1-for-3.
First Coast's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-9. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.8 runs on average over those games. As for Ponte Vedra, their win bumped their record up to 13-8.
First Coast came out on top in a nail-biter against Ponte Vedra in their previous matchup back in April of 2022, sneaking past 4-2. Will the Buccaneers repeat their success, or do the Sharks have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
