Manatee entered their tilt with Winter Haven with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with an 8-7 win over the Winter Haven Blue Devils on Tuesday. For Manatee, this counts as revenge for the 3-0 defeat Winter Haven walked away with the last time they faced one another back in April of 2023.
Ashton Hovda and Diego Garcia-Gill did most of the damage at the plate: Hovda scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances, while Garcia-Gill scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Hovda has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Bryan Rodriguez, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Manatee pushed their record up to 13-3 with that victory, which was their seventh straight at home. Those victories were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.4 runs per game. As for Winter Haven, their loss dropped their record down to 12-4.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Manatee will take on Bishop Verot at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (Bishop Verot: 2.4, Manatee: 3.2) so any runs scored will be well earned. As for Winter Haven, they will look to defend their home field on Thursday against Ridge Community at 7:30 p.m.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
