Baseball Game Preview: Hardee Wildcats vs. Avon Park Red Devils

The Hardee Wildcats will head out on the road to challenge the Avon Park Red Devils at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Hardee 3.7, Avon Park 3.4) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Hardee is headed into Tuesday's contest looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Friday. They fell 7-2 to IMG Academy Royal.

Ryland Beumel

Runs

04/04/25 vs IMG Academy Royal	2
03/26/25 vs Riverview Sarasota	2
03/18/25 vs Island Coast	2
03/12/25 @ Manatee	2
02/21/25 vs Lake Placid	2
+ 9 more games

Hardee saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ryland Beumel, who scored two runs while going 1-for-3. Beumel is becoming a predictor of the Wildcats' success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 4-2 (and 4-9 when he doesn't).

Meanwhile, Avon Park beat Clewiston 5-1 on Friday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Red Devils.

The team relied heavily on KJ Massey, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-1. That's the most runs he has posted since back in February. Another player making a difference was Cam Engler, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.

Avon Park's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 16-6. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.8 runs on average over those games. As for Hardee, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-11.

Hardee couldn't quite finish off Avon Park when the teams last played back in February and fell 4-2. Can the Wildcats avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.