The Hialeah Gardens Gladiators will head out on the road to challenge the Varela Vipers at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Hialeah Gardens is no doubt hoping to put an end to a five-game streak of away losses.
On Wednesday, Hialeah Gardens came up short against American and fell 7-3.
Ryan Valdes was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out six batters over 4.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off four hits (and only one walk).
On the hitting side, Nicholas Ceballos was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-4. Another player making a difference was Jhomar Salazar, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-2.
Even though they lost, Hialeah Gardens didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with nine strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as American only tossed three.
Meanwhile, Varela entered their tilt with Coral Park with five consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with six. They never let the Rams onto the board and left with a 6-0 victory on Monday. Varela might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won seven matchups by six runs or more this season.
Christian Lussier and Mj Vergara dominated on the mound. Lussier pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (he also didn't allow any walks), while Vergara pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits (he also only allowed one walk). Lussier has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in four consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Jonathan Paniagua was incredible, going 3-for-3 with three RBI and a stolen base. Javier Caldera was another key contributor, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
Hialeah Gardens' loss dropped their record down to 5-9. As for Varela, their win bumped their record up to 11-3.
Hialeah Gardens suffered a grim 18-2 defeat to Varela in their previous meeting back in February of 2023. Thankfully for Hialeah Gardens, Nicholas Machado (who scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
