The Lake Minneola Hawks will be playing at home against the Lecanto Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Tuesday, Lake Minneola sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-3 win over South Lake.
Lake Minneola saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jacob Cali, who went 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Cali has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive pitching appearances.
Meanwhile, Lecanto made easy work of Weeki Wachee on Tuesday and carried off a 7-1 victory. That looming 7-1 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for Lecanto yet this season.
Dylan Czerwinski made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing seven innings while giving up just one earned run off five hits (he also only allowed one walk). Czerwinski was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Garrett Pitzer, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Nick Sloane was another key contributor, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and a double.
Lake Minneola pushed their record up to 12-5 with that win, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those good results were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.3 runs per game. As for Lecanto, their victory ended a six-game drought on the road and puts them at 7-10.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Lake Minneola has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Lecanto struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.1. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Lake Minneola was able to grind out a solid win over Lecanto in their previous meeting back in March, winning 4-1. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Sloane, who tossed seven innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off seven hits (he also didn't allow any walks). Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Lake Minneola still be able to contain Sloane? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
