The Melbourne Bulldogs will venture away from home to challenge the Lake Brantley Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
On Thursday, Melbourne didn't have quite enough to beat Merritt Island and fell 6-5. The Bulldogs have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Layna Ayala made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Brookelynn Dolin was another key player, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Lake Brantley faced Hagerty in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. The Patriots had just enough and edged out the Huskies 4-3. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Patriots.
Catharine Conway was a standout: she scored a run while going 2-for-4. She also put up a double, which was her first of the season. Another player making a difference was Stella Christie, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one RBI.
Lake Brantley was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .407. The last time their batting average was this high was back in March.
Lake Brantley pushed their record up to 15-3 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.4 runs on average over those games. As for Melbourne, their loss dropped their record down to 9-11.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Melbourne hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like Lake Brantley struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.7 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Melbourne took their victory against Lake Brantley in their previous matchup back in April of 2024 by a conclusive 7-0 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Bulldogs since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
