The Saint Stephen's Episcopal Falcons will head out to square off against the Bayshore Bruins at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Saint Stephen's Episcopal took a loss when they played away from home last Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed last Friday. They walked away with an 8-5 win over The Classical Academy of Sarasota.
Hussain Lalani made a big impact no matter where he played. He struck out six batters over 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Lalani was also solid in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in runs.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Jackson Riffe, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one triple. That's the most runs he has posted since back in March of 2024. Jeremiah Cox was another key player, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Bayshore). They blew past Gulf Coast HEAT 16-0 on Friday. The high-scoring effort was just what the Bruins needed considering they were shutout in their previous match.
Like Saint Stephen's Episcopal, Bayshore also got a great game from a two-way player: Diego Villegas. On the mound, he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. The dominant performance gave Villegas a new career-low in hits. He was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 1-for-2.
In other batting news, Tucker Pope was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing four bases while going 2-for-2. He also put up two hits, which werehis first of the season. Another player making a difference was Abraham Rodriguez, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 1-for-2.
Bayshore always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .556. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Gulf Coast HEAT only posted an OBP of .222.
The victory got Bayshore back to even at 2-2. As for Saint Stephen's Episcopal, the win got them back to even at 1-1.
