Baseball Game Preview: Olympic Heights Lions vs. Suncoast Chargers

The Olympic Heights Lions will head out on the road to take on the Suncoast Chargers at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Olympic Heights' hitters haven't had much luck over their past three contests, but Friday's matchup will give them a chance to turn things around.

Olympic Heights will bounce into Friday's game after beating Santaluces, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. The Lions' pitchers stepped up to hand the Chiefs a 1-0 shutout on Thursday.

Olympic Heights' victory was truly a team effort as three different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Nathan Walters, who went 1-for-4 with one RBI.

Meanwhile, Suncoast waltzed into their contest on Thursday with three straight wins... but they left with four. They blew past the Wildcats 7-0.

The result came thanks to Brady Benevides's shutout, as he gave up just two hits and racked up nine Ks. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one walk in three consecutive appearances.

At the plate, John Cimbella was incredible, going 1-for-4 with one home run and three RBI. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Colin Campbell, who scored a run while going 3-for-3.

Olympic Heights' record is now 3-16. As for Suncoast, their record now sits at 15-9.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Olympic Heights has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Suncoast struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.3 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Olympic Heights couldn't quite finish off Suncoast in their previous matchup back in April of 2024 and fell 5-3. Can the Lions avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.