The Alcoa Tornadoes will take on the Manatee Hurricanes in a tournament on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Alcoa's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Eagleton College & Career Academy as they made off with a 10-0 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Tornadoes.
Josh Simpson tossed a big game, keeping things locked down with no earned runs or hits over five innings pitched. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (five).
At the plate, Aden Orrick and Bleau Kennedy did most of the damage at the plate: Orrick scored two runs and stole three bases while going 3-for-4, while Kennedy scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-2. Cory Hatcher also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Alcoa always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .594. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Eagleton College & Career Academy only posted an OBP of .118.
Meanwhile, after only one run in their last contest, Manatee made sure to put some runs up on the board against Bayshore on Saturday. The Hurricanes blew past the Bruins 12-1. With that win, the Hurricanes brought their scoring average up to 6.2 runs per game.
Ashton Hovda was incredible, going a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base. Payton Harlan was another key player, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4.
Alcoa pushed their record up to 15-4 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 15.0 runs over those games. As for Manatee, their record is now 14-8.
Thursday's matchup will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Alcoa hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .368. However, it's not like Manatee struggles in that department as they've averaged .324. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
