Baseball Recap: Hardee Picks Up Sixth Consecutive Win

Wildcats

Previous 6 Games

04/10/26 vs Clewiston	10-5
04/09/26 vs Lake Placid	9-0
04/07/26 @ Avon Park	5-1
04/01/26 @ Mulberry	4-0
03/31/26 @ Lake Placid	12-1
03/27/26 @ Sebring	5-0

Hardee waltzed into their game on Friday with five straight wins... but they left with six. They came out on top against the Clewiston Tigers by a score of 10-5. For the Wildcats, this counts as revenge for the 5-2 victory the Tigers walked away with the last time they faced one another back in March of 2025.

Hardee gave Weslee Cornelius the start and clearly made the right call: he tossed 4.2 innings while giving up just two earned (and three unearned) runs off eight hits. The dominant performance also gave Cornelius a new career-high in strikeouts (five). Teagan Vansickle picked up the save, tossing 2.1 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.

At the plate, Ryan Rivas and Owen Connell did most of the damage at the plate: Rivas went a perfect 2-for-2 with two RBI, one run, and one double, while Connell went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs and one triple. Those two hits gave Connell a new career-high. Ryland Beumel was another key player, getting on base in two of his four plate appearances with two runs and one RBI.

Hardee's record is now 14-9. As for Clewiston, the defeat snapped their winning streak at six games and leaves them with a 12-12 record.

The two teams are set to take part in some playoff action in their next matches. Hardee will challenge Lake Region at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The Thunder have struggled to contain batters this season (they've allowed 8.75 runs per game on average), something the Wildcats will no doubt try to take advantage of. As for Clewiston, they will square off against Somerset Academy - Canyons at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.