The Highlands Christian Knights are headed away from home for the first time to take on the Lake Worth Christian Defenders at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are strolling into their matches after big wins in their previous games.
Highlands Christian's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They blew past Miami Country Day 10-0. The Knights might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three games by ten runs or more this season.
Steven Perals made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits over five innings pitched. Perals was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing Two bases. while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Sage Chartier
| 03/07/25 vs Miami Country Day | 5 |
| 04/25/24 vs Downtown Doral | 2 |
| 02/26/24 @ Atlantic Christian | 2 |
| 04/19/24 vs Atlantic Christian | 1 |
| 02/29/24 @ Sheridan Hills Christian | 1 |
In other batting news, Sage Chartier was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing Five bases. while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in stolen bases. Jack Fisher was another key player, scoring a run and stealing Three bases. while going 1-for-1.
Highlands Christian always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .677. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in three consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Lake Worth Christian hadn't done well against Lake Worth recently (they were 0-3 in their previous three matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Everything went Lake Worth Christian's way against Lake Worth as Lake Worth Christian made off with a 17-7 win. Considering the Defenders' hitters had been struggling lately, the high-scoring outing was a much-needed turnaround.
Bryce VandenBerg made a big impact no matter where he played. He struck out six batters over four innings while giving up just two earned (and three unearned) runs off four hits. VandenBerg was also big at the plate, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with three runs and one triple. He is becoming a predictor of Lake Worth Christian's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 1-6 when he doesn't).
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Gavin Farnen, who scored three runs. Another player making a difference was Mia Kruspe, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Highlands Christian now has a winning record of 3-2. As for Lake Worth Christian, with the victory, they broke their three-game losing streak and moved their record to 5-6.
Lake Worth Christian's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Highlands Christian hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .459. It's a different story for Lake Worth Christian, though, as they've only averaged .230. Will they be able to contain Highlands Christian's hitters?
Highlands Christian took their win against Lake Worth Christian in their previous matchup back in March of 2020 by a conclusive 15-1. Will Highlands Christian repeat their success, or does Lake Worth Christian have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
