The Wesley Chapel Wildcats will square off against the Osceola Warriors at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (Wesley Chapel: 3.2, Osceola: 3.6) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Wesley Chapel's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Sunlake, sneaking past 2-0. The Wildcats haven't had any issues with the Seahawks recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive victory against them.
Sunlake's batters probably weren't too happy with Aiden Nguyen, who pitched a no hitter and racked up 15 Ks (he gave up zero walks). That's the fewest walks Nguyen has allowed since back in April of 2024.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Zorre Wright, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one home run. The team also got some help courtesy of Mills Carrillo, who scored a run and stole Two bases. while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Osceola made easy work of St. Petersburg on Thursday and carried off a 10-2 win. Considering the Warriors have won three games by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Jackson Berglund tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out six over five innings pitched. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in April of 2024.
On the hitting side, Osceola let Ethan Futch and Vincent Ferrell run wild. Futch scored three runs and stole Three bases. while going 2-for-5, while Ferrell scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-2. Futch continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. Kaedyn Phillips was another key player, scoring a run while going 2-for-5.
Osceola is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season. Wesley Chapel's victory bumped their record up to 6-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Wesley Chapel has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Osceola struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.1 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Wesley Chapel beat Osceola 9-5 in their previous meeting back in March of 2024. Does Wesley Chapel have another victory up their sleeve, or will Osceola turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
