After both having extra time off, the Apopka Blue Darters and the East River Falcons will dust off their jerseys to face off against one another at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Apopka's pitching crew has only allowed 3.4 runs per game this season, so East River's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Apopka's usually-dominant pitching crew will be looking to make up for Thursday's struggle, when Lake Nona hitters got past them. Apopka fell just short of Lake Nona by a score of 11-9 last Thursday.
Camron Pennock was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out seven batters over 5.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off three hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in five consecutive appearances.
Collin VanFleet
| 03/13/25 vs Lake Nona | 3 |
| 03/11/25 vs Dr. Phillips | 1 |
| 03/03/25 @ Boone | 1 |
| 02/21/25 @ Ocoee | 1 |
At the plate, Collin VanFleet was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring three runs while going 2-for-3. Those three runs gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Nicolas Posluszny, who scored a run.
Meanwhile, East River fell victim to Timber Creek and their airtight pitching crew last Thursday. They came up short against the Wolves, falling 8-0. The Falcons just can't catch a break and have now endured three losses in a row.
Apopka's defeat dropped their record down to 8-6. As for East River, their loss dropped their record down to 7-6.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Apopka has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like East River struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Everything went Apopka's way against East River in their previous meeting two weeks ago, as Apopka made off with an 8-1 win. Will Apopka repeat their success, or does East River have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
