The Plant City Raiders are taking a road trip to square off against the Riverview Sharks at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Plant City is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 10.6 runs per game this season.
Plant City is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 16 runs on Tuesday, they were much more limited against Sumner on Thursday. They lost 8-2 to the Stingrays. The Raiders haven't had much luck with the Stingrays recently, as the team has come up short the last six times they've met.
Kyleigh Meiers
| 04/03/25 @ Sumner | 2 |
| 04/01/25 vs Spoto | 2 |
| 03/29/25 vs Durant | 1 |
| 03/27/25 vs Brandon | 1 |
| 03/25/25 @ Lennard | 3 |
| 03/14/25 @ Auburndale | 1 |
Kyleigh Meiers was cooking despite her team's loss, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-4. She has been hot, having posted at least one stolen base the last six times she's played.
Meanwhile, Riverview had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 15.3 runs) and they went ahead and made it four on Thursday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with an 8-6 victory over the Indians. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Sharks have posted since February 27th.
Kara McGuire and Kylie Freeland did most of the damage at the plate: McGuire went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and two RBI, while Freeland went 2-for-4 with two doubles and one RBI. Those two doubles gave Freeland a new career-high. Laila Girard also deserves some recognition as she snagged her first stolen base of the season.
Riverview hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least three batters in five consecutive contests.
Plant City's defeat was their first in the district, dropping their district record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 12-5. As for Riverview, their victory bumped their record up to 9-5.
Riverview's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Monday. Plant City has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.9 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Riverview, though, as they've been averaging only 3.4 strikeouts. Will Plant City keep running through batters, or will the Sharks buck the trend?
Plant City took their win against Riverview in their previous meeting back in March by a conclusive 10-0 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Raiders since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
