Baseball Recap: Lakeland Victorious

After having lost a blowout in their previous game against IMG Academy Black, Lakeland was happy to have turned things around on Thursday. They walked away with a 4-1 win over the McKeel Academy Wildcats. For the Dreadnaughts, this counts as revenge for the 5-3 victory the Wildcats walked away with the last time they faced one another back in February of 2025.

Cooper Carbonara

Base on Balls Against

02/24/26 vs Bartow	2
02/10/26 vs Ridge Community	2
03/12/26 vs McKeel Academy	1

Cooper Carbonara spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on two hits and racked up nine Ks. He also tossed a walk, which is notable because Lakeland is undefeated when he allows at most two walks, but 3-4 otherwise.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Brady Cover, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, two RBI, and one run. He has been hot recently, having posted two or more stolen bases the last four times he's played. Ashwin Harvey was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one run.

Lakeland's record is now 8-4. As for McKeel Academy, they are on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 4-8.

Lakeland and McKeel Academy could both be facing uphill battles in their next games considering their disadvantage in the MaxPreps Florida Rankings. The Dreadnaughts will challenge Berkeley Prep at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday with a big rank disadvantage (237 vs. 39). Meanwhile, McKeel Academy (ranked 303rd) will meet Owasso (ranked 14th) at 1:00 p.m. on Monday.