After days of rain, the Lakeland baseball team finally got back into action today as they hosted the Terra State Titans in OCCAC action. In game 1, the Lakers used strong pitching to come away with a 4-1 victory. Ethan Duncan set the tone on the mound firing 3 shutout innings allowing 1 hit while striking out 5 batters. Anthony Barbosa relieved and picked up the win pitching the next 2 innings allowing 1 run. Jack Argie was next up as he pitched a scoreless inning before Leo Alonso got the save throwing a scoreless 7th inning. The game was tight early as both teams were held scoreless until the 5th inning. In the top of the 5th inning, the Titans took the lead scoring their only run on a pair of singles and a sac bunt. The Lakers immediately answered in the home half scoring 4 runs. Brayden Fellouzis and Thomas Vokic started the inning with back-to-back singles. James LaVigne then laid down a sacrifice, but reached on a Titan error that allowed 2 runs to score. LaVigne would advance to 3rd on a Ray Cowen groundout before scoring on a passed ball. Wilfredo Ortiz then hit a 2-out single and later scored on an RBI-double from Miguel Fuentes to cap the Lakers scoring. 

Thomas Vokic picked up 2 hits and scored a run for the Lakers to lead the way. Miguel Fuentes (double and RBI), Aaron De Oleo Rivas (double), Brayden Fellouzis, Parker LaGreca, and Wilfredo Ortiz each added hits in the Lakers win. 

In game 2, the two teams would battle back and forth before the Lakers came up short in the end falling 9-8. Lakeland jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. James LaVigne started things with a walk before Ray Cowen singled. Both runners advanced on a passed ball before LaVigne scored on another passed ball. Miguel Fuentes then walked before Josiah Cuesta ripped a 2-RBI triple. After the Titans cut the lead to 3-2 in the top of the second inning, Lakeland pushed another run across for a 4-2 lead after 2 innings. Thomas Vokic walked and advanced on a passed ball. Vokic would advance to 3rd base on a LaVigne groundout before scoring on a wild pitch. The Titans would cut the deficit to 4-3 in the 3rd taking advantage of walk and Laker errors before taking a 7-4 lead in the top of the 4th inning - keyed by a walk and a pair of hit batters. The Lakers would answer in the home half of the 4th inning by scoring 2 runs. Nicholas Square walked before Brayden Fellouzis homered to account for the runs.Trailing 7-6 in the bottom of the 5th inning, Fuentes worked a leadoff walk. Parker LaGreca sacrificed Fuentes to second before Josiah Cuesta hit an RBI-single to tie the score at 7. Nicholas Square would later hit an RBI-double to give the Lakers an 8-7 lead after 5 innings. This time, the Lakers could not hold the lead as the Titans scored 2 runs in the top of the 6th inning to take a 9-8 lead. The Lakers tried to answer, but  left the bases loaded in the top of the 6th inning and James LaVigne on second after a 1-out double in the bottom of the 7th inning in dropping the game.

James LaVigne (2B, 1B) and Ray Cowen each registered 2 hits for the Lakers. Brayden Fellouzis had a homerun and 2-RBI's while Josiah Cuesta had a triple and RBI. Nicholas Square added a double and RBI while Parker LaGreca and Thomas Vokic each recorded a hit in the defeat. On the mound, Adam Salesky started and pitched 2 innings allowing 2 runs (1 earned). Jackson Smith relieved and threw 1.1 innings allowing 5 runs (4 earned). Casen Smith then came on to throw 1.2 sxcoreless innings. Aaron De Oleo Rivas took the loss allowing 2 earned runs in 1 inning before Kaleb Corrin closed out the game with a scoreless inning.

Next Up: The Lakers will play host on Friday (4/18) against the Bryant & Stratton Bobcats. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 pm.