Southeast has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will square off against the Bradenton Christian Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Southeast scored the most runs they've had all season to find success on Thursday. Everything went their way against Gibbs as Southeast made off with a 20-2 victory. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest win of the season.
Adrian Beltran was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He struck out eight batters over four innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off five hits (and not a single walk). Beltran was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, Josiah Williams was incredible, going 2-for-3 with a home run, five RBI, and three runs. Evan Carr was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-4.
Meanwhile, it may have taken eight innings to finish the job, but Bradenton Christian ultimately got the result they hoped for on Tuesday. They skirted past Bracken County 7-6.
Like Southeast, Bradenton Christian also got a great game from a two-way player: Garrett Duquette. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching five innings while giving up three earned runs off four hits. Duquette was also big at the plate, scoring a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Duquette wasn't the only one making solid contact as six players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Landon Henderson, who scored a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Brett Balais, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Southeast pushed their record up to 6-7 with that victory, which was their third straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.0 runs per game. As for Bradenton Christian, they now have a winning record of 8-7.
Southeast suffered a grim 19-5 defeat to Bradenton Christian in their previous matchup back in February. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Duquette, who didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out seven over five innings pitched. Now that Southeast knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
