Tavares is 1-9 against Lake Minneola since April of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Tavares Bulldogs are on the road again to play the Lake Minneola Hawks at 6:30 p.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Thursday, Tavares was able to grind out a solid victory over Windermere Prep, taking the game 8-3.
Dylan Auciello looked comfortable as he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (he also only allowed one walk). He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up a single walk in three consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Landon Papineau, who went 2-for-3 with a triple, two RBI, and a run. Jamarcus Pugh was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Lake Minneola had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4 runs), and they went ahead and made it four on Thursday. Everything went their way against the Kowboys as they made off with a 12-3 win. With that victory, Lake Minneola brought their scoring average up to 6.4 runs per game.
The team relied heavily on Josh Schaller, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4. He continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Malachi Meyers, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, two RBI, and a double.
Tavares' win ended a six-game drought on the road and puts them at 7-8. As for Lake Minneola, their victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 11-4.
Tavares might still be hurting after the 10-2 loss they got from Lake Minneola in their previous matchup back in April of 2023. Thankfully for Tavares, Ethan Diaz (who didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out six over four innings pitched) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
