The Escambia Gators will face off against the Navarre Raiders at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Escambia has five straight victories, Navarre has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Escambia barely beat Foley the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. Everything went Escambia's way against Foley on Friday as Escambia made off with a 14-1 win. Surprisingly, this marked the fifth straight game that the away team has come away the victor.
Christian Stone was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He tossed 1.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been consistent : he hasn't given up more than one earned run in five consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring three runs while getting on base in four of his six plate appearances.
Clayton Sanders
| 02/28/25 @ Foley | 14 |
| 03/07/24 @ Foley | 13 |
| 03/25/24 vs Booker T. Washington | 9 |
| 02/21/25 @ Northview | 8 |
| 03/20/24 vs Choctawhatchee | 8 |
In other pitching news, Clayton Sanders tossed a big game, striking out 14 batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just one earned run off six hits (and only one walk). The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in strikeouts.
Back at the plate, Marcus Days was incredible, scoring three runs while going 2-for-4. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in RBI (two). Another player making a difference was Tucker Nix, who went 3-for-4 with one RBI.
Escambia was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .382. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .357 or higher in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Navarre came up short against Jay on Friday, falling 10-3.
Gavin Gray was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out ten batters over six innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off four hits (and not a single walk).
On the hitting side, Navarre saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Garrett Gilbert, who scored a run while going 2-for-2. Logan Hand was another, going 1-for-2 with three RBI.
Escambia's victory bumped their record up to 6-1. As for Navarre, their loss dropped their record down to 2-7.
Navarre's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Escambia hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .402. It's a different story for Navarre, though, as they've only averaged .249. Will they be able to contain Escambia's hitters?
Escambia beat Navarre 7-3 when the teams last played back in March of 2024. Will Escambia repeat their success, or does Navarre have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
