The Florence Gophers will challenge the Empire Ravens at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Florence's pitching crew has only allowed three runs per game this season, so Empire's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Florence is headed into Monday's game looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Friday. They were a single run away from ending the streak, but they lost a 4-3 heartbreaker at the hands of Apache Junction.
Florence saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Zane O'Rourke, who scored two runs while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Empire, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Wednesday. They put the hurt on St. Augustine Catholic with a sharp 11-4 victory on Thursday. The result was nothing new for the Ravens, who have now won four matchups by six runs or more so far this season.
The team relied heavily on Zackary Breinlinger, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Those two runs gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Brady Carey, who scored a run and stole two bases while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Empire always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .571. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.
The win snapped Empire's losing streak at three games and leaves them with a 5-8 record. As for Florence, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-3.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Monday as neither team is afraid to steal. Florence has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.4 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Empire struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 3 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
