The Mandarin Mustangs will venture away from home to take on the Baldwin Indians at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Mandarin has given up an average of 7.8 runs per game this season, so hopefully the team got some pitching drills in this week.
Mandarin fell victim to Atlantic Coast and their airtight pitching crew on Thursday. They came up short against the Stingrays, falling 11-0. Having soared to a lofty 18 runs in the game before, the Mustangs' shutout was a dramatic turnaround.
Ryleigh Booth
| 02/27/25 vs Atlantic Coast | 1 |
| 02/25/25 @ Orange Park | 3 |
| 02/21/25 vs Creekside | 1 |
| 02/20/25 @ Fletcher | 2 |
| 05/09/24 @ Spruce Creek | 1 |
Mandarin saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ryleigh Booth, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one double. Booth is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as she's now stole at least one in each of the last five games she's played dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Baldwin, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Tuesday. They put the hurt on Trinity Catholic with a sharp 12-2 win on Thursday. The Indians' hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Lilly Hubbard tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run over five innings pitched. What's more, she posted three strikeouts, the most she's had since back in March of 2024.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Kendall North, who got on base in all four of her plate appearances with four runs, one triple, and one double. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Jazmine Ramos-Merced, who scored a run while going 4-for-4.
Baldwin 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 Trinity Catholic only posted a batting average of .211.
Mandarin's defeat dropped their record down to 2-2. As for Baldwin, the victory got them back to even at 3-3.
Mandarin suffered a grim 12-0 defeat to Baldwin in their previous matchup back in February of 2024. Can Mandarin avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
