Lake Wales hasn't had much luck against Lakeland Christian recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Lake Wales Highlanders will take on the Lakeland Christian Vikings at 7:00 p.m. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Lake Wales' pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They skirted past George Jenkins 1-0. The one-run effort marked the Highlanders' lowest-scoring contest of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
Not much got past Max Seidl, who gave up just two hits and racked up nine Ks to keep George Jenkins off the board.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Levi Cutts, who went 1-for-3 with one home run. That home run marked the first that he's launched this season.
Meanwhile, Lakeland Christian earned a 7-2 victory over Osceola on Friday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Vikings.
Mookie Rodriguez was incredible, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with one home run, two runs, and one stolen base. Another player making a difference was Gavin Byrd, who scored two runs while going 3-for-3.
Lakeland Christian lost a few balls and finished the game with two home runs. That's the most home runs they've posted since back in April of 2024.
Lake Wales' win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 4-1. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs over those games. As for Lakeland Christian, they now have a winning record of 3-2.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Lake Wales has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Lakeland Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Lake Wales suffered a grim 12-2 defeat to Lakeland Christian in their previous matchup last Friday. Can Lake Wales avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
