The Gulf Coast Sharks are taking a road trip to challenge the Naples Golden Eagles at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Gulf Coast has five straight wins, Naples has eight straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
While Gulf Coast's victory against Barron Collier wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Sharks skirted past the Cougars 2-1.
Taylor Stalling spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on four hits and racked up seven Ks. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances.
Emma Caetano
| 04/01/25 vs Barron Collier | 2 |
| 03/27/25 @ Riverdale | 1 |
| 03/25/25 vs Lely | 1 |
| 03/21/25 vs Barron Collier | 1 |
| 03/20/25 vs Palmetto Ridge | 1 |
On the hitting side, Gulf Coast saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Emma Caetano, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 1-for-4. Those two stolen bases gave Caetano a new career-high.
Meanwhile, Naples came up short against Fort Myers on Tuesday, falling 10-3.
Joslyn Baker was cooking despite her team's loss, scoring a run while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances.
Gulf Coast pushed their record up to 11-1 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.3 runs on average over those games. As for Naples, their loss dropped their record down to 3-9.
Naples' pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Gulf Coast has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 10.7 hits per game. It's a different story for Naples, though, as they've been averaging 9 hits. Given Gulf Coast's sizable advantage in that area, the Golden Eagles will need to find a way to close that gap.
Gulf Coast beat Naples 8-4 in their previous matchup back in February. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Sharks since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
