Monday night, the Italy Gladiators hosted the visiting Grandview Zebras at Loyd Davidson Field.  In the varsity matchup, the Gladiators were strong but the Zebras put another mark in their win column which moved Grandview to a 7 and 0 statistic.

Coach Josh Ward said, “Grandview is a very good team. They are very well coached and are a solid team in everything they do. There is a reason they are undefeated in district. They hit the ball very well and play great defense.”

The Gladiators let their guard down during this game. Ward explained, “I know that we need to be better at the plate, we have got to be more aggressive in swinging the bats earlier in the count and not wait until we get two strikes on us before we decide to swing. We are a game and a half out of the third playoff spot, with four games left to play. So we still have a good chance of getting into the playoffs. We still control our own destiny in this playoff hunt. We have to play with more of a sense of urgency and enthusiasm in order to reach our goal and finishing out the season strong.”

Friday, April 13, sees the Gladiators traveling to Maypearl. Ward is optimistic about the game, “I feel good about the Maypearl game Friday, we need our bats to come alive, play good defense, play with passion, and we will be fine.”

The JV games begins at 4:30 pm and varsity will take the field at 7:00 pm in Maypearl. See you there!