The Freedom Patriots will be playing in front of their home fans against the St. Cloud Bulldogs at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Thursday, Freedom was able to grind out a solid win over Colonial, taking the game 4-1. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Freedom.
Blake Echols was a major factor no matter where he played. He pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits (he also only allowed one walk). Echols was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
In other pitching news, Freedom got a great performance from Anthony Unruh as he tossed five innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits (he also only allowed one walk).
Back at the plate, the team relied heavily on Hermes Garcia, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two stolen bases, two RBI, and a double. Francisco Pilier was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-2.
Meanwhile, in what's become a running theme this season, St. Cloud gave their fans yet another huge victory on Thursday. They were the clear victor by a 10-1 margin over Hopkins.
Jerrid Munguia looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Josh Bejarano, who scored two runs while going 1-for-3. Another player making a difference was Sammy Echeverry, who got on base in two of his four plate appearances with two RBI.
Freedom's win bumped their record up to 7-3. As for St. Cloud, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 6-4 record this season.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. Freedom has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.4 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like St. Cloud struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.3 per game. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Freedom might still be hurting after the 15-0 loss they got from St. Cloud when the teams last played back in April of 2023. Can Freedom avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
