The Fletcher Senators will face off against the Mandarin Mustangs at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a three-game winning streak alive.
If Fletcher beats Mandarin with eight runs on Friday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two matches with that exact score. Fletcher beat Bishop Kenny on Thursday by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 8-2.
Dylan Johnson spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned runs on three hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (five).
Tucker Demsey
| 03/27/25 @ Bishop Kenny | 2 |
| 03/14/25 vs Stanton | 1 |
| 03/05/25 @ St. Joseph Academy | 1 |
| 02/20/25 @ Ponte Vedra | 1 |
| 02/18/25 vs Bishop Kenny | 1 |
At the plate, Tucker Demsey was excellent, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-5. Those two stolen bases gave him a new career-high. Cooper Bell was another key player, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
Fletcher hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now struck out at most five strikeouts in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Mandarin was able to grind out a solid victory over Suncoast on Thursday, taking the game 9-5.
Hunter Simpson was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he tossed four innings while giving up just two earned runs off five hits. He also tossed a walk, which is notable because Mandarin is 3-1 when he allows at most one walk, but 7-8 otherwise. Simpson was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs while going 1-for-2.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Makarios Brown, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Another player making a difference was Cole Rusak, who went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and one RBI.
Mandarin pushed their record up to 10-9 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.8 runs on average over those games. As for Fletcher, their win bumped their record up to 11-6-1.
Fletcher was able to grind out a solid victory over Mandarin in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, winning 3-0. Does Fletcher have another victory up their sleeve, or will Mandarin turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
