The Celebration Storm will face off against the Ridge Community Bolts at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
On Monday, Celebration needed a bit of extra time to put away Poinciana. They had just enough and edged out the Eagles 4-3. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last four times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
Jesus Cabarcas spent all eight innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned (and one unearned) runs on four hits.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Keiner Quintero, who scored two runs while going 1-for-2. That's the most runs he has posted since back in April of 2024. Ciro Yanez was another key player, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
Celebration always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .516. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.
Meanwhile, Ridge Community posted their closest win since April 23, 2024 on Monday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-2 victory over Discovery. The win continues a trend for the Bolts in their matchups with the Spartans: they've now won three in a row.
Ridge Community also let their pitcher toss all seven innings and he was also dialed-in: Edger Olmeda gave up only one earned (and one unearned) run on four hits. Olmeda has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Deniel Serrano was excellent, scoring two runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Edwin Castaneda, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.
Ridge Community's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 5-4. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to hits: they averaged an imposing nine hits in those games compared to only 5.17 in the others. As for Celebration, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a nice bump to their 5-3 record this season.
Ridge Community's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Celebration hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .333. It's a different story for Ridge Community, though, as they've only averaged .254. Will they be able to contain Celebration's hitters?
Celebration skirted past Ridge Community 3-2 in their previous meeting back in April of 2023. Will Celebration repeat their success, or does Ridge Community have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
