The Land O' Lakes Gators will face off against the Wiregrass Ranch Bulls at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Land O' Lakes has six straight victories, Wiregrass Ranch has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
On Thursday, it was close, but Land O' Lakes sidestepped Nature Coast Tech for a 3-2 win.
Land O' Lakes got a great performance from Zachary Kelly as he didn't allow a single earned run over six innings pitched. Kelly has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in eight consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Land O' Lakes' victory was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Christian Vollsteadt, who scored a run while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances. Trevor Wildman was another, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Wiregrass Ranch came up short against IMG Academy Navy on Wednesday, falling 11-5.
Pedro Castro put in work while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Castro was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with two RBI.
In other batting news, Luis Castro made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI.
Wiregrass Ranch's loss dropped their record down to 4-11. As for Land O' Lakes, their win bumped their record up to 14-8.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Land O' Lakes has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Wiregrass Ranch struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 6.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Land O' Lakes beat Wiregrass Ranch 4-1 when the teams last played on Tuesday. Do the Gators have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Bulls turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
