The Merritt Island Mustangs will square off against the Eau Gallie Commodores at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Merritt Island is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They never let Astronaut get on the board and left with a 19-0 victory on Wednesday. With that win, the Mustangs brought their scoring average up to 7.9 runs per game.
Braeden Rouleau
| 02/26/25 @ Astronaut | 0 |
| 02/20/25 @ Vero Beach | 1 |
| 02/11/25 vs Heritage | 2 |
Braeden Rouleau made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going a perfect 2-for-2 with two RBI.
In other batting news, Ty Brandes was a standout: he scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3. Liam Miller was another key player, scoring two runs while going 2-for-2.
Merritt Island was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .448. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Astronaut only posted a batting average of .200.
Meanwhile, Eau Gallie posted their biggest victory since March 27, 2024 on Friday. They put the hurt on Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy with a sharp 8-0 win. The Commodores haven't had any issues with the Tigers recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive victory against them.
Like Merritt Island, Eau Gallie also got a great game from a two-way player: Brock Lustic. He didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out six over six innings pitched. Lustic was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one home run and one double. What's more, he posted two hits, the most he's had since back in March of 2024.
In other batting news, Carson Lietz was incredible, firing off two home runs, six RBI, and one stolen base while going 3-for-4. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in home runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Aiden McMahon, who scored two runs while going 3-for-3.
The win (which was Merritt Island's third in a row) raised their record to 6-1. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 runs over those games. As for Eau Gallie, they now have a winning record of 3-2.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Merritt Island has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Eau Gallie struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.8 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Merritt Island came out on top in a nail-biter against Eau Gallie in their previous matchup two weeks ago, sneaking past 1-0. Will Merritt Island repeat their success, or does Eau Gallie have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
