- April 25, 2024
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Bobby Sparling is batting .426 thus far in the season. Photo by Jeff Dawsey
Joseph Alvarado makes it to home safely for a run against Seabreeze on Friday night. Photo by Jeff Dawsey
Sparling struck out 10 Seabreeze batters in the Pirates' 10-7 win this past Friday. Photo by Jeff Dawsey
Alex Lanning closed out the Sandcrabs with four strikeouts in a little over two innings pitched. Photo by Jeff Dawsey
Head coach Jim Perry gives the "stop" signal for Joseph Alvarado on third base. Photo by Jeff Dawsey
Before the season, head coach Jim Perry stressed the importance of playing as a team, not a group of individuals. Sitting at 7-6 on the season — two wins shy of last year’s total with at last 10 games to play — Perry believes the Pirates have bought in.
In their last three games, Matanzas avenged their losses with wins against Mainland 2-1 and Seabreeze 10-7, and they most recently beat Nease 12-6 in six innings, due to the weather.
"We are ascending," Matanzas coach Jim Perry said. "We're competing for seven innings. We're competing on every pitch. If we continue to compete on every pitch and give ourselves a chance, I like where we can go."
The Pirates have compiled 24 hits with a .414 batting average over the last two games.
Matanzas junior standout Bobby Sparling, who’s batting .426 on the season, also sees a difference with this year’s team from his past two seasons, which he credits to the team buying into Perry’s philosophy.
“We were more talented last year,” he said, “but this year’s team has much better chemistry.”
The Pirates will look to build on their three-game winning streak, when they play Deltona at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 6, at Matanzas.
"We're striving to do something no other Matanzas baseball team has done before: win a district championship.
