Avalon fought the good fight in their extra-innings contest against Italy on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Gladiators by a score of 7-6. The Eagles were given a dose of their own medicine in this game as the Gladiators apparently hadn't forgotten their loss the last time these teams played back in March of 2025.
John De La Garza
| 03/10/26 @ Cayuga | 7 |
| 03/31/26 @ Italy | 1 |
John De La Garza was huge no matter where he played even without the win. He struck out 14 batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits. He has become a key player for Avalon: the team is 3-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 1-5 otherwise. De La Garza was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI. That double marked the first that he has hit this season.
In other batting news, Josh Novak was cooking despite his team's loss, going 3-for-4 with one run and one RBI. Evan Jacks also deserves some recognition as he got his first hit of the season.
This is the second loss in a row for Avalon and nudges their season record down to 4-6. As for Italy, with the win, they broke their three-game losing streak and moved their record to 4-9.
Looking ahead, Avalon will take on Cross Roads at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. As for Italy, they will venture away from home to take on Frost at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The Polar Bears have struggled to contain batters this season (they've allowed 9.75 runs per game on average), something the Gladiators will no doubt try to take advantage of.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
