The Tampa Prep Terrapins will take on the Clearwater Central Catholic Marauders at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Tampa Prep is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last seven games.
Tampa Prep's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They walked away with a 5-0 win over St. Francis.
Liam Akins was excellent, scoring a run while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Derek Stiglich, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI and one double.
Tampa Prep always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .516. That was just more of the same: they've now posted an OBP of .500 or higher in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only Clearwater Central Catholic walked away with it. They were the clear victors by a 14-4 margin over the Panthers on Monday. The Marauders' hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Clearwater Central Catholic also got a great performance from Zach Wheeler as he tossed 5.2 innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits.
On the hitting side, Ivan Lopez- Cruz was a standout: he scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3. Those two runs gave him a new career-high. Philip Skorewicz was another key player, going a perfect 2-for-2 with one triple, two RBI, and one run.
Tampa Prep's victory was their eighth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-10. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.6 runs on average over those games. As for Clearwater Central Catholic, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 9-16 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Tampa Prep has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Clearwater Central Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Tampa Prep came out on top in a nail-biter against Clearwater Central Catholic in their previous matchup back in March, sneaking past 1-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Terrapins since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
