Fort Walton Beach is 2-8 against Gulf Breeze since February of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Fort Walton Beach Vikings will face off against the Gulf Breeze Dolphins at 7:00 p.m. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Fort Walton Beach is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 3-1 win over Fleming Island. The victory was familiar territory for Fort Walton Beach who now have five in a row.
Ava Smith spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered one run (which was unearned) on one hit and racked up nine Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in ten consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Alyx Hall, who went 3-for-3 with a home run, two runs, and two RBI. Hannah Isham was another key contributor, going 2-for-4 with a triple and a run.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Gulf Breeze, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Thursday. They never let Matanzas onto the board and left with a 2-0 win on Thursday.
Matanzas' batters probably weren't too happy with Leila Ammon, who pitched a no hitter and racked up 13 Ks (she gave up a single walk).
On the hitting side, Kenna King was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-2.
Fort Walton Beach is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 18-10 record this season. As for Gulf Breeze, their victory bumped their record up to 15-9.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Tuesday. Fort Walton Beach hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like Gulf Breeze struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Fort Walton Beach skirted past Gulf Breeze 1-0 in their previous matchup last Thursday. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Ammon, who didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 13 over seven innings pitched. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Fort Walton Beach still be able to contain Ammon? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
