The Montverde Academy Eagles will take on the Lecanto Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The timing is sure in Montverde Academy's favor as the team sits on four straight wins at home while Lecanto has been banged up by five consecutive losses on the road.
Montverde Academy is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Florida's top teams: Parrish Community, who was ranked sixth at the time (Montverde Academy was ranked second). The Eagles came out on top against the Bulls by a score of 7-2 on Tuesday. Seven seems to be a good number for the Eagles as the squad scooped up a victory with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Montverde Academy got a great performance from Nevaeh Williams as she didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out 12 over six innings pitched. Williams has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 17 consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Addison Poe was incredible, going 1-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. That's the most runs she has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Luna Taboas, who went 2-for-4 with two runs and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Lecanto can bid farewell to their three-game losing streak thanks to their game on Tuesday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Forest, sneaking past 7-6. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Panthers have posted since March 11th.
Abigail Males spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered six runs (all of which were unearned) on eight hits and racked up 11 Ks.
On the hitting side, Shawna Griffin and Justeen Wilson did most of the damage at the plate: Griffin went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI, while Wilson got on base in three of her four plate appearances with two runs. Another player making a difference was Kierstyn Swayze, who got on base in two of her four plate appearances with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.
Montverde Academy has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 13 of their last 14 games. That's provided a nice bump to their 22-2 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for Lecanto, their win bumped their record up to 9-14.
Lecanto's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Montverde Academy has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .482. It's a different story for Lecanto, though, as they've only averaged .324. Will they be able to contain Montverde Academy's hitters?
Everything went Montverde Academy's way against Lecanto in their previous meeting back in April of 2022, as Montverde Academy made off with an 11-0 victory. Do the Eagles have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Panthers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
