Baseball Game Preview: Lakeland Hornets vs. Westlake Wildcats

The Lakeland Hornets will face off against the Westlake Wildcats at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Lakeland will be strutting in after a victory while Westlake will be coming in after a loss.

Lakeland gave up the first runs on Thursday, but they didn't let that get them down. They came out on top against Croton-Harmon by a score of 7-4.

Alex Mautone was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out eight batters over 6.2 innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits. Those eight strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with two RBI.

Lou Vernagallo

Runs (Career)

05/01/25 @ Croton-Harmon	3
04/15/25 vs Hendrick Hudson	2
04/25/25 @ Pleasantville	1
04/17/25 @ Hendrick Hudson	1
04/01/25 vs Yorktown	1

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Lou Vernagallo, who went 3-for-5 with three runs and one stolen base. Those three runs gave him a new career-high.

Meanwhile, Wednesday just wasn't the day for Westlake's offense. They lost 11-0 to Walter Panas on Wednesday. Having soared to a lofty 18 runs in the game before, the Wildcats' shutout was a dramatic turnaround.

Westlake saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Matthew Pippo, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with one stolen base.

Westlake has also been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five games. That's put a noticeable dent in their 3-4 record this season. As for Lakeland, their win bumped their record up to 6-8.