Wellington is on a seven-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while Oxbridge Academy is on a four-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Wellington Wolverines will host the Oxbridge Academy ThunderWolves at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (Wellington 1.5, Oxbridge Academy 3.2) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Wellington is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Florida's top teams: Coral Reef, who was ranked ninth at the time (Wellington was ranked eighth). Wellington came out on top in a nail-biter against Coral Reef on Tuesday, sneaking past 2-1. The Wolverines haven't had any issues with the Barracudas recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.
Tori Payne spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on four hits and racked up 13 Ks. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in eight consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Wellington's victory was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Carolina Baronci, who scored a run while going 3-for-3. Angelina Baronci also deserves some recognition as she hit her first double of the season.
Meanwhile, while Oxbridge Academy put up plenty of runs on Monday, the same can't be said for Central. Everything went Oxbridge Academy's way against Central as Oxbridge Academy made off with a 15-0 win. The result was nothing new for the ThunderWolves, who have now won six games by nine runs or more so far this season.
Ila Trueblood and Ella Bianco did most of the damage at the plate: Trueblood scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3, while Bianco scored three runs and stole Three bases. while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances. The dominant performance also gave Trueblood a new career-high in doubles (two). Riley Frauntfelter was another key player, scoring two runs while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances.
Oxbridge Academy was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .500. They are a perfect 5-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Oxbridge Academy has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-4 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.5 runs on average over those games. Wellington's victory bumped their record up to 9-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Wednesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Wellington has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.1 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Oxbridge Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.8 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Wellington took their win against Oxbridge Academy in their previous meeting back in February of 2024 by a conclusive 11-5. Does Wellington have another victory up their sleeve, or will Oxbridge Academy turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.