The Lake Wales Highlanders will challenge the Winter Haven Blue Devils at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.
McKeel Academy hit Lake Wales with a 14-run seventh inning on Wednesday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Highlanders came up short against the Wildcats, falling 16-5.
Conner Clark was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-4 with four RBI and two doubles. The team also got some help courtesy of Brysen Woods, who went 2-for-3 with two runs.
Meanwhile, Winter Haven won against Osceola on Wednesday with five runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Thursday. The Blue Devils beat Inspiration Academy by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 5-4. Winning may never get old, but the Blue Devils sure are getting used to it with their third in a row.
The team relied heavily on Jody Wilson, who went 3-for-4 with two RBI, one run, and one double. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in February. Another player making a difference was Deric Morris, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.
Lake Wales' loss dropped their record down to 7-10. As for Winter Haven, their win bumped their record up to 13-4.
Lake Wales couldn't quite finish off Winter Haven in their previous matchup back in April of 2025 and fell 7-5. Can the Highlanders avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
