Baseball Recap: St. John Lutheran Takes a Loss

St. John Lutheran had lost three straight at home, but on Tuesday they dropped down to 12-8 to make it four. They lost 16-2 to the Bradford Tornadoes. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Saints of the 9-1 loss they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in March of 2025.

St. John Lutheran saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Carlos Sanchez, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one run.

As for Bradford, they moved to 7-11 with that win, which also ended their four-game losing streak. With that victory, they brought their scoring average up to 6.1 runs per game.

On Bradford's side, Ryland Rike made a splash no matter where he played. He struck out 11 batters over six innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits (and only one walk). Rike is becoming a predictor of Bradford's success: when he allows at most one earned run the team is undefeated (and 4-11 when he doesn't). Rike was also stellar in the batter's box, going 4-for-5 with three stolen bases, three RBI, and one triple. Those four hits gave him a new career-high.

In other batting news, Bradford got a massive performance out of Breion Johnson, who went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double. That's the most runs Johnson has posted since March 2nd. Ryder Thompson was another key player, going 2-for-3 with three runs, one stolen base, and one double.

Coming up, St. John Lutheran will welcome Redeemer Christian at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The Lions have struggled to contain batters this season (they've allowed 9.67 runs per game on average), something the Saints will no doubt try to take advantage of. As for Bradford, they will head out to challenge Covenant School of Jacksonville at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The Tornadoes will need to watch out since the Warriors have now posted at least ten runs in their last three contests.