Lawrence Central had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 6.7 runs), and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They walked away with an 8-4 win over the Southport Cardinals. For Lawrence Central, this counts as revenge for the 12-0 loss Southport walked away with the last time they faced one another back in May of 2023.
Lawrence Central got a great performance from Quentin Espinoza as he pitched five innings while giving up four earned runs off five hits. Espinoza has been consistent recently: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in three consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Nick Johnson was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing three bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Ahmaad Duff, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 1-for-3.
On Southport's side, they saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Riley Matlock, who scored a run while going 2-for-4. Peyton Phoenix was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-2.
Lawrence Central is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a massive bump to their 7-9 record this season. As for Southport, they are on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 5-7.
Lawrence Central will be playing in front of their home fans against Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory's pitching crew has only allowed 4.1 runs per game this season, so Lawrence Central's hitters will have their work cut out for them. As for Southport, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Columbus North at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Columbus North is coming into the matchup with six straight victories on the road, so Southport will have to stop a squad with plenty of momentum.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
