Baseball Game Preview: Lakeland Christian Vikings vs. Plant City Raiders

The Lakeland Christian Vikings will be playing at home against the Plant City Raiders at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (Lakeland Christian: 2.6, Plant City: 3.4) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Lakeland Christian fell victim to Santa Fe Catholic and their airtight pitching crew on Thursday. They fell just short of the Hawks by a score of 1-0. Having soared to a lofty ten runs in the game before, the Vikings' shutout was a dramatic turnaround.

Carson Martin

Base on Balls Against

02/27/25 @ Santa Fe Catholic	2
02/17/25 @ IMG Academy	1
02/11/25 vs Jesuit	1

Carson Martin was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he didn't allow a single earned run over 5.2 innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks any time he's pitched this season.

On the hitting side, Lakeland Christian saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Gavin Byrd, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base. Brooks Blankenship also deserves some recognition as he stole his first stolen base of the season.

Meanwhile, Plant City didn't have quite enough to beat Gaither on Thursday and fell 4-3. The loss continues a trend for the Raiders in their matchups with the Cowboys: they've now lost three in a row.

Hunter Carbaugh was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he pitched 4.2 innings while giving up three earned runs off three hits.

The defeat snapped Lakeland Christian's winning streak at three games and leaves them with a 4-3 record. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.0 runs over those games. As for Plant City, their loss dropped their record down to 4-3.

Lakeland Christian came out on top in a nail-biter against Plant City in their previous matchup back in April of 2023, sneaking past 3-1. Will Lakeland Christian repeat their success, or does Plant City have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.