Baseball Game Preview: Sunlake Seahawks vs. Wharton Wildcats

The Sunlake Seahawks will challenge the Wharton Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Sunlake's pitching crew has only allowed 3.3 runs per game this season, so Wharton's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Sunlake is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past Land O' Lakes 7-5.

Sunlake 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. Dion has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in three consecutive appearances.

Lucas Zarlenga

Runs

04/15/25 vs Land O' Lakes	2
04/11/25 @ IMG Academy Silver	2
04/10/25 vs Pasco	2
04/01/25 vs Cypress Creek	2
03/28/25 vs Mitchell	2
+ 9 more games

At the plate, Lucas Zarlenga was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-3. Sunlake is 7-1 when Zarlenga posts two or more runs, but 7-8 otherwise. Tommy Hoye was another key player, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.

Meanwhile, while Wharton put up some runs on Tuesday, the same can't be said for Wiregrass Ranch. The Wildcats put the hurt on the Bulls with a sharp 6-0 victory. The Wildcats might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won ten contests by six runs or more this season.

Not much got past Connor Evans, who gave up just three hits to keep Wiregrass Ranch off the board.

On the hitting side, Chase Andress and Drew Cobb did most of the damage at the plate: 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. That's the most hits Andress has posted since back in February. Another player making a difference was Justis Meadows, who went 1-for-3 with one triple and one run.

Sunlake has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight games. That's provided a nice 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 record now sits at 20-5.

Sunlake suffered a grim 8-2 defeat to Wharton in their previous meeting back in May of 2022. Can the Seahawks avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.