The Jesuit Tigers will challenge the American Heritage Patriots at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Jesuit comes in on 12 and American Heritage on seven.
Jesuit is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They put the hurt on Wesley Chapel with a sharp 11-1 win. Considering Jesuit has won 11 games by more than six runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Aden Knowles tossed a big game, striking out six batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits.
At the plate, Zane Pestalozzi was excellent, scoring two runs while going 1-for-2. The team also got some help courtesy of Jacob Lozano, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.
Meanwhile, American Heritage faced Lincoln in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. American Heritage came out on top in a nail-biter against Lincoln and snuck past 3-2.
Spencer Krasner tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run while striking out six over five innings pitched.
On the hitting side, American Heritage saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Joseph Castro, who went 1-for-1 with a stolen base and an RBI.
Jesuit is on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 14 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 25-6 record this season. As for American Heritage, their victory bumped their record up to 21-10.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Jesuit has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.1 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like American Heritage struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.2. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Jesuit came up short against American Heritage in their previous matchup back in May of 2023, falling 8-5. Thankfully for Jesuit, Spencer Butt (who went 2-for-5 with a home run, four RBI, and two runs) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
