Navarre is 1-9 against Niceville since April of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Navarre Raiders will head out on the road to face off against the Niceville Eagles at 7:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the pair will really light up the scoreboard.
Navarre took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They never let Pine Forest onto the board and left with an 11-0 win.
Ace Demotts made a splash while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out seven over four innings pitched. Demotts was also big at the plate, going 2-for-2 with two stolen bases, four RBI, and a run.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Chase Luebbert, who went 1-for-2 with a home run and four RBI. Ryan Ragan was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, Niceville scored the most runs they've had all season to find success on Monday. Everything went their way against Walton as Niceville made off with an 11-1 victory. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest win of the season.
Walton's batters probably weren't too happy with Reilly Six, who pitched a no hitter (he gave up four walks).
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Nick Gates, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with a home run, two runs, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Deacon Avery, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Navarre's victory ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 7-14. As for Niceville, they now have a winning record of 12-11.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Navarre has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Niceville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.3. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Navarre came up short against Niceville in their previous matchup back in February, falling 6-3. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Niceville's Evan Root, who didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out eight over four innings pitched. Now that Navarre knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
