Palm Beach Gardens is 2-8 against Park Vista since May of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Gators will be playing at home against the Cobras at 7:00 p.m. Palm Beach Gardens is coming into the game hot, having won their last seven games.
Palm Beach Gardens barely beat St. Thomas Aquinas the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Gators' pitchers stepped up to hand the Raiders a 10-0 shutout on Wednesday. Considering the Gators have won seven matchups by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Palm Beach Gardens got a great performance from Shea Towns as she didn't allow a single earned run over 6.1 innings pitched. Towns has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up a single earned run in three consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Brynn Catasus was a standout: she went 2-for-5 with one triple, two RBI, and one run. That triple marked the first that she hit this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaman Reno, who scored two runs while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances.
Palm Beach Gardens kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 15 hits. That's the most hits they've posted since back in April of 2024.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Park Vista, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Wednesday. They walked away with a 9-5 win over Centennial on Monday. The Cobras haven't had any issues with the Eagles recently, as the game was their third consecutive victory against them.
Angeline Mergen was a major factor no matter where she played. She struck out six batters over seven innings while giving up five earned runs off seven hits. Mergen was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 3-for-4. That's the most stolen bases she has posted since back in February.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Hannah Durante, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and one stolen base. Another player making a difference was Isabella Golas, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
Park Vista's win was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 13-2. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Palm Beach Gardens, their win bumped their record up to 15-5.
Palm Beach Gardens skirted past Park Vista 3-1 when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Will the Gators repeat their success, or do the Cobras have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
