The Cardinal Mooney Cougars will face off against the Lakewood Ranch Mustangs at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. Cardinal Mooney will be strutting in after a victory while Lakewood Ranch will be coming in after a defeat.
Lakewood Ranch will be up against a hot Cardinal Mooney team: the squad just extended their winning streak to three. Cardinal Mooney never let Gateway Charter onto the board and left with a 5-0 win on Saturday.
Colton Hyde looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and only a hit over four innings pitched.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on John Badala, who went 1-for-4 with one home run and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Wyatt Hossenlopp, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-2.
Cardinal Mooney was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .379. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Gateway Charter only posted a batting average of .160.
Lakewood Ranch kicked off their season on the road on Wednesday and hit a couple of potholes. They fell 5-1 to IMG Academy. The loss continues a trend for the Mustangs in their matchups with the Ascenders: they've now lost six in a row.
Lakewood Ranch had to settle for second despite strong performances on the mound from Ben Plimley and Nathan Johnson Plimley tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits, while Johnson tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. What's more, Plimley also posted two strikeouts, the most he's had since back in March of 2024.
At the plate, River Yang made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 1-for-2 with one home run.
Cardinal Mooney's victory was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 3-0. As for Lakewood Ranch, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-1.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
