The Duval Charter Panthers will face off against the Andrew Jackson Tigers at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The timing is sure in Duval Charter's favor as the squad sits on seven straight wins at home (dating back to last season) while Andrew Jackson has been banged up by 16 consecutive losses on the road also dating back to last season.
Duval Charter barely beat Old Plank Christian Academy the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Panthers put the hurt on the Defenders with a sharp 14-4 win on Monday. Considering the Panthers have won nine contests by more than seven runs this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.
Connor Portelli looked comfortable as he pitched four innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off five hits. He has been consistent : he hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Michael Grimaldi, who scored two runs and stole three bases while going 3-for-3. That's the most stolen bases he has posted since back in February of 2024. Another player making a difference was Jack Pergament, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Andrew Jackson). They blew past Westside 18-8 on Thursday. The victory was some much needed relief for the Tigers as it spelled an end to their five-game losing streak.
Dwayne Williams made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out six batters over three innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Williams was also solid in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, Lamar Stanfield and CJ Logan did most of the damage at the plate: Stanfield got on base in all five of his plate appearances with two stolen bases, five RBI, and one run, while Logan scored two runs and stole five bases while going 3-for-5. Andrew Jackson is 2-1 when Logan posts two or more runs, but 0-13 otherwise. Josiah Parker was another key player, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while going 1-for-4.
Andrew Jackson was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .467. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.
Andrew Jackson's win bumped their record up to 2-14. As for Duval Charter, their victory bumped their record up to 13-4.
Everything went Duval Charter's way against Andrew Jackson in their previous meeting two weeks ago, as Duval Charter made off with a 9-1 win. Do the Panthers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Tigers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
