Baseball Game Preview: Early Panthers vs. Lakeland Vikings

Early has gone a perfect 3-0 against Lakeland recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. The Panthers are taking a road trip to take on the Vikings at 4:30 p.m. Early is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.9 runs per game this season.

It was a proper cat-fight when Early challenged Chadwick on Monday. The Panthers put the hurt on the Cardinals with a sharp 15-0 victory. The Panthers not only won on Monday, but they posted their biggest win since April 11, 2024 (when they won 18-0).

Luke Francka

Runs Batted In (Career)

05/05/25 @ Chadwick	3
04/07/25 vs Fair Play	2
04/10/25 vs Ash Grove	1
03/21/25 @ Spokane	1

Luke Francka made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching 2.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two hits in four consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-2 with three RBI and one run. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Cash Graves, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, three RBI, and two runs. He is becoming a predictor of Early's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 6-7 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Michael Doyle, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and one stolen base.

Early was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .455. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, Lakeland had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7.5 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Monday. They walked away with a 7-2 win over the Tigers.

Early's record is now 9-7. As for Lakeland, their record now sits at 16-8.

Early took their victory against Lakeland in their previous matchup back in April of 2022 by a conclusive 10-1 score. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Vikings have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.