Vanguard had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.5 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They walked away with a 9-4 victory over the Lake Weir Hurricanes. That's two games straight that the Knights have won by exactly five runs.
Brendan McLaughlin
| 04/10/25 @ Lake Weir | 3 |
| 03/25/25 @ Leesburg | 2 |
| 02/21/25 @ West Port | 2 |
| 02/17/25 vs Dunnellon | 2 |
| 03/18/24 @ Matanzas | 2 |
Brendan McLaughlin made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing 1.1 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. McLaughlin was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 1-for-3. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in RBI (three).
In other pitching news, Vanguard got a great performance from Spencer Payne as he struck out seven batters over five innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off four hits. Payne has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in three consecutive appearances.
Back at the plate, JJ Thomas was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-2. Another player making a difference was Clayton ?CT? Antonucci, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Vanguard pushed their record up to 19-4 with the win, which was their sixth straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.7 runs over those games. As for Lake Weir, their defeat dropped their record down to 10-15.
Vanguard will have a chance to go back-to-back against the Hurricanes: the pair's next game is a rematch scheduled at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
