The Wharton Wildcats will take on the Sunlake Seahawks at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Wharton 2.8, Sunlake 3.3) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Wharton is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Wiregrass Ranch a 6-0 shutout. The result was nothing new for the Wildcats, who have now won ten games by six runs or more so far this season.
The result came thanks to Connor Evans's shutout, as he gave up just three hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances.
Chase Andress
| 04/15/25 vs Wiregrass Ranch | 3 |
| 03/13/25 vs Plant City | 2 |
| 03/04/25 @ Middleton | 2 |
| 02/18/25 vs King | 2 |
| 04/08/25 vs Hillsborough | 1 |
At the plate, Wharton let Chase Andress and Drew Cobb run wild. Andress went 2-for-3 with one home run and three RBI, while Cobb went 2-for-3 with one home run and two runs. Those three RBI gave Andress a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Justis Meadows, who went 1-for-3 with one triple and one run.
Meanwhile, Sunlake hadn't done well against Land O' Lakes recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. The Seahawks narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past the Gators 7-5.
Sunlake also got a great performance from Wyatt Dion as he struck out six batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off five hits.
On the hitting side, Lucas Zarlenga was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-3. He has become a key player for Sunlake: the team is 7-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 7-8 otherwise. Tommy Hoye was another key player, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
Sunlake has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 14-9 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Wharton, their victory bumped their record up to 20-5.
Wharton took their win against Sunlake in their previous meeting back in May of 2022 by a conclusive 8-2 score. Do the Wildcats have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Seahawks turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
