After four games on the road, Belleview is heading back home. They will take on the Leesburg Yellow Jackets at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.
Belleview put the finishing touches on their fourth blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. They never let Lake Weir onto the board and left with a 13-0 victory. While fans of Belleview might be used to big wins, the 13-run margin marked the team's biggest win yet this season.
Ethan Gifford was a major factor no matter where he played. He didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits over five innings pitched. Gifford was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 1-for-2.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Shea Young, who scored a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Brady Loebig, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with an RBI.
Meanwhile, Leesburg made easy work of Lake Weir two weeks ago and carried off an 8-1 victory. The win was just what Leesburg needed coming off of an 8-2 defeat in their prior game.
Braylin Cronin spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on three hits and racked up 15 Ks.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Malachi Hepburn, who scored two runs and stole three bases while going 1-for-2. The team also got some help courtesy of Aiden Sustarsic, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
Belleview's victory bumped their record up to 7-3. As for Leesburg, their win ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 3-6.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Belleview has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Leesburg struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.9 per game. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
