The Crystal River Pirates will face off against the Eustis Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Crystal River sitting on three straight victories and Eustis on 11.
Crystal River is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They never let Astronaut get on the board and left with a 1-0 win. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Pirates have posted since March 28th.
Not much got past Violet Flynn, who gave up just four hits and racked up nine Ks to keep Astronaut off the board. Flynn has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 17 consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Crystal River's win was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Mackenzie Herrick, who went 1-for-2 with one RBI.
Meanwhile, after only two runs in their last matchup, Eustis made sure to put some runs up on the board against Palatka on Wednesday. Eustis was the clear victor by a 14-0 margin over Palatka. Considering Eustis has won ten games by more than eight runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Carson Roden looked comfortable as she didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out seven over four innings pitched.
At the plate, Eustis got a massive performance out of Adrianna Covino, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. Emmy Luke was another key player, going 2-for-3 with three RBI, two runs, and one double.
Eustis was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .524. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Palatka only posted a batting average of .167.
Eustis' victory bumped their record up to 19-6. As for Crystal River, their win bumped their record up to 19-8.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Crystal River has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 10.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Eustis struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 8.5 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more softball content.
