The Keystone Heights Indians will face off against the Santa Fe Raiders at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Keystone Heights is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.5 runs per game this season.
Keystone Heights will bounce into Wednesday's contest after beating Oakleaf, who they had gone 0-5 against in their five prior meetings. Keystone Heights came out on top against Oakleaf by a score of 6-2 on Monday. Surprisingly, this marked the fourth straight game that the away team has come away the victor.
Ethan Franklin
| 03/10/25 @ Oakleaf | 8 |
| 02/24/25 vs Ridgeview | 7 |
| 02/14/25 @ Baker County | 6 |
| 03/07/25 vs Palatka | 3 |
| 02/11/25 vs Clay | 2 |
Ethan Franklin spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on two hits and racked up eight Ks. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in strikeouts.
At the plate, Austin Smith was incredible, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Guage Barry, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Smith wasn't the only one working in the hit department: Keystone Heights kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Oakleaf only managed two hits.
Meanwhile, Santa Fe had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 3 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured an 11-10 W against the Colts. The game was the first time the Raiders have beaten the Colts on their field since March 22, 2022.
Santa Fe got a massive performance out of Angel Irizarry, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with three RBI, one triple, and one stolen base. That triple marked the first that Irizarry hit this season. Cohen Bennett was another key player, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4.
Keystone Heights' win bumped their record up to 10-3. As for Santa Fe, the victory got them back to even at 6-6.
Keystone Heights came out on top in a nail-biter against Santa Fe when the teams last played two weeks ago, sneaking past 10-8. Will Keystone Heights repeat their success, or does Santa Fe have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
