The Fruita Monument Wildcats are on the road again on Friday to play the Lakewood Tigers at 4:00 p.m. Fruita Monument is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 7 runs per game this season.
Palisade typically has all the answers at home, but on Tuesday Fruita Monument proved too difficult a challenge. They came out on top against the Bulldogs by a score of 7-2.
The team relied heavily on Kolton Hicks, who went 2-for-4 with a triple, two RBI, and a run. Another player making a difference was Hunter Smolinski, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, everything went Lakewood's way against Denver South on Wednesday as Lakewood made off with a 13-1 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for Lakewood.
CJ Mahoney made a big impact no matter where he played. He struck out ten batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. Mahoney was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 1-for-2.
In other batting news, Lakewood got a big performance out of Matthew Gordon, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Sean Lann was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 1-for-2.
Fruita Monument is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-4 record this season. As for Lakewood, the win got them back to even at 6-6.
Lakewood's pitching crew has a tough task ahead of them: Fruita Monument hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .326. It's a different story for Lakewood, though, as they've only averaged .244. Will they be able to contain Fruita Monument's hitters?
Everything went Fruita Monument's way against Lakewood in their previous meeting back in April of 2023 as Fruita Monument made off with an 8-2 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Fruita Monument since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
