A feisty cat fight will be fought as Mulberry Panthers duke it out with Inspiration Academy Lions at 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Mulberry's pitching crew has only allowed 3.5 runs per game this season, so Inspiration Academy's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Mulberry is headed into the game having just suffered their closest loss since February 11th on Monday. They fell just short of Lakeland Christian by a score of 6-4. The Panthers haven't had much luck with the Vikings recently, as the team has come up short the last eight times they've met.
Mulberry got a good showing from Jaden Sweeney, who struck out six batters over 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. What's more, Sweeney gave up only zero earned runs, the fewest he's had since back in May of 2024.
On the hitting side, Mulberry saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Gavin Stedman, who scored two runs while going 1-for-2. Griffin Cline was another, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Inspiration Academy entered their tilt with Winter Haven on Monday with three consecutive wins , and they'll enter their next game with four. They walked away with a 7-2 win over the Blue Devils. That's two games straight that the Lions have won by exactly five runs.
Jackson Hungle tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run over five innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in three consecutive appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Ty Harvey, who went 3-for-4 with one triple, one run, and one double. Another player making a difference was Sean Dromgool, who went 1-for-3 with one triple, one run, and one RBI.
Inspiration Academy's victory was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 10-3. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.0 runs over those games. As for Mulberry, their defeat dropped their record down to 10-5.
Mulberry came out on top in a nail-biter against Inspiration Academy when the teams last played back in March of 2024, sneaking past 13-12. Will Mulberry repeat their success, or does Inspiration Academy have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
