The East Bay Indians will face off against the Gaither Cowboys at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. East Bay is coming into the contest hot, having won their last five games.
East Bay will bounce into Thursday's match after beating Riverview, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. East Bay came out on top against Riverview by a score of 7-2 on Tuesday.
J.J. Groover
| 03/11/25 @ Riverview | 7 |
| 03/01/25 @ Armwood | 5 |
| 03/06/25 vs Plant City | 4 |
| 02/10/25 @ Leto | 4 |
| 02/25/25 vs Lennard | 3 |
East Bay got a great performance from J.J. Groover as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out seven over five innings pitched. Those seven strikeouts gave Groover a new career-high.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Connor Gavigan, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one home run, four RBI, and one stolen base. He is becoming a predictor of East Bay's success: when he posts at least three RBI the team is undefeated (and 2-5 when he doesn't). The team also got some help courtesy of Ethan Cunningham, who scored a run and stole a base while going 3-for-4.
Meanwhile, Gaither never let their opponents score on Wednesday. They put the hurt on Jesuit with a sharp 6-0 victory. The Cowboys might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six games by six runs or more this season.
Jackson Mirza made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he pitched 1.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been consistent : he hasn't given up more than two hits in five consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-4. He also hit a double, marking his first of the season.
In other batting news, David Pina and Albert Antinori did most of the damage at the plate: Pina scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-2, while Antinori scored a run and stole Two bases. while going 2-for-3.
East Bay's win was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 6-5. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.8 runs over those games. As for Gaither, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 9-4 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. East Bay has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Gaither struggles in that department as they've been averaging 11.1 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
East Bay came out on top in a nail-biter against Gaither when the teams last played back in March of 2021, sneaking past 6-5. Does East Bay have another victory up their sleeve, or will Gaither turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
