The Lake Nona Lions will venture away from home to square off against the Cypress Creek Bears at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Lake Nona's pitching crew has only allowed 3.7 runs per game this season, so Cypress Creek's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Lake Nona barely beat Gateway the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. Lake Nona was the clear victor by an 8-2 margin over Gateway on Thursday. Considering the Lions have won seven contests by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Ryland Happel
| 03/27/25 @ Gateway | 9 |
| 02/21/25 vs Boone | 7 |
| 02/14/25 @ West Orange | 7 |
| 03/07/25 vs Olympia | 6 |
| 02/29/24 @ University | 6 |
Ryland Happel spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned runs on five hits and racked up nine Ks. Those nine strikeouts gave him a new career-high.
On the hitting side, Logan Inman was incredible, going 2-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Fabian Gavalo, who scored a run while going 3-for-4.
Lake Nona was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .400. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Gateway only posted a batting average of .200.
Meanwhile, Cypress Creek won against Freedom on Tuesday with five runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Thursday. Cypress Creek came out on top in a nail-biter against Tohopekaliga, sneaking past 5-3. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Bears.
The team relied heavily on Adrian Medina, who scored two runs and stole three bases while going 1-for-3. He has become a key player for Cypress Creek: the team is 2-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 6-11 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Aaron Camacaro, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.
The win (which was Lake Nona's third in a row) raised their record to 12-7. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.0 runs over those games. As for Cypress Creek, their record is now 8-12.
Lake Nona was able to grind out a solid win over Cypress Creek in their previous matchup back in February, winning 6-2. The rematch might be a little tougher for Lake Nona since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
