The Oviedo Lions will square off against the Dr. Phillips Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Dr. Phillips took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Oviedo, who comes in off a win.
Oviedo is headed into the contest having just posted their closest victory since April 30, 2024 on Monday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Lake Howell, sneaking past 3-2. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Lions.
Henry Thomas looked comfortable as he tossed 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (five).
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Christian Lynch, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one double, and one RBI. Sebastian Galeano also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Meanwhile, Dr. Phillips was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their sixth straight defeat. They took a 7-3 hit to the loss column at the hands of South Lake.
Ryan Pyka was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. On the mound, he pitched four innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off five hits. That's the fewest earned runs he has allowed since back in March. He was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing three bases while going 1-for-2. He has become a key player for Dr. Phillips: the team is 4-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 5-14 otherwise.
Pyka wasn't the only one making solid contact as two players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Jaxon Safford, who went 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Dr. Phillips' loss dropped their record down to 9-15. As for Oviedo, their win bumped their record up to 8-15.
Oviedo came out on top in a nail-biter against Dr. Phillips in their previous meeting back in March of 2024, sneaking past 6-5. Will the Lions repeat their success, or do the Panthers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
