Palm Beach Central is 8-1 against Santaluces since February of 2016, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Monday. The Palm Beach Central Broncos will look to defend their home field against the Santaluces Chiefs at 4:30 p.m. The pair are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
On Thursday, Palm Beach Central got the win against Forest Hill by a conclusive 12-2. That looming 12-2 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for Palm Beach Central yet this season.
Palm Beach Central got a great performance from Charlie Houd as he tossed five innings while giving up just two earned runs off five hits (he also only allowed one walk). Houd has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up a single walk in six consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Andres Lopes was incredible, going 2-for-3 with three RBI, a triple, and a run. Zach Pollock was another key contributor, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Santaluces scored the most runs they've had all season to find success on Thursday. Everything went their way against Leonard as Santaluces made off with an 18-3 victory. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest win of the season.
Samir Hurtado made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (he also didn't allow any walks). Hurtado was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with a triple and two RBI.
In other batting news, Santaluces got a massive performance out of Samuel Almonte, who scored two runs while going 2-for-2. Another player making a difference was Matthew Martinez, who scored three runs while going 1-for-2.
Palm Beach Central's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-6. Those good results were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.3 runs per game. As for Santaluces, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 6-9 record this season.
Palm Beach Central took their win against Santaluces when the teams last played back in February by a conclusive 11-4. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Martinez, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-3. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Palm Beach Central still be able to contain Martinez? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
