By FRANCIS FEDOR
Sumner baseball had a good week with two big wins, first sending the Indians to their first defeat of this young season, 13-11, on Tuesday, Feb. 27, playing on the road at East Bay. The Stingrays stayed on the road, making the trip into Tampa to play Armwood HS, and extended the Hawks losing streak to two in a tightly contested 1-0 win on Thursday night, Feb. 29.
The ‘Rays now stand at .500 after a tough luck 0-2 start.
Stingray sophomore standout Aliyanis Stubbs gets her hand in just under the tag in the game vs. Plant on Feb. 29.
The Stingrays were road warriors for the week, traveling over to South Shore rival East Bay to face a 2-0 Indian squad. The game turned into a run fest with the teams combining for 24 runs, and nine pitchers saw action in the game. Both teams put up first inning runs before a scoreless second inning and then the floodgates opened. The bulk of the scoring came between the 3rd and 5th innings. Sumner plated ten runs and East Bay saw nine base runners cross the plate. It was the Stingrays that found just a bit more offense to get the victory. Isaiah Welch and Luke Parson each went two-for-three from the plate with Parson scoring four times. Anthony Jacquez drove in three runs to lead the winning Stingrays. Rhyan Yetman got the win, tossing two innings and giving up five runs, with only two of the runs earned.
The Stingrays then traveled up I-75 to Seffner to play Armwood, coming off its first loss of the season to Strawberry Crest HS. In stark contrast to the game on Tuesday, the bats cooled in what turned out to be a pitching duel. Ethan Dejesus got the nod for Sumner and had a stellar outing, striking out ten Hawk hitters and only allowing three hits and a walk to earn the victory. Winston Pennant scored the only run for the ‘Rays. Riley Stevens and Luke Parson went two-for-two at the plate with one of the Parson hits going for a double. Owen Leever was that hard luck loser for the Hawks.
Sumner plays twice for the week of Mar. 4, having hosted Lennard, a big South Shore rival, on Mar. 5 and then hosting Strawberry Crest on Saturday, Mar. 9, at 4 p.m. The game vs. Strawberry Crest will kick off the ‘Rays participation in the annual Saladino tournament, traditionally held over spring break.
Francis Fedor photos
Sumner players celebrate a run scored by Karlee Salisbury in big win in a game between two 3-0 teams.
Stingray sophomore standout Aliyanis Stubbs gets her hand in just under the tag in the game vs. Plant on Feb. 29.
Stingray softball continues to roll along. Autum Hernandez has the 2024 iteration of her team playing great softball. It opened the week with a 17-0 road rout of Hillsborough HS. Aliyanis Stubbs is off to a strong start in her sophomore season.
She went two-for-three in her at-bats, scoring three times and driving in four runs, on a double and home run. Karlee Salisbury added a three-for-three night from the plate. Jordin McClain and Victoria Baker split the pitching duties to combine for the shutout.
Sumner junior Jaelyn Joiner turns second headed to third in game action vs. Plant on Thursday, Feb. 29.
The ‘Rays hosted the 3-0 Plant Panthers for a match-up between the unbeaten teams on Thursday, Feb. 29. Sumner played small ball, moving runners to score two first inning runs. Then the team used a couple of bunts to push a run across in the third to extend the lead to 3-0. The game took a wild swing in the sixth with Plant scoring three runs to tie the game in the top of the sixth, but the Stingrays stormed back with five runs in their half of the sixth to regain the lead and closed out the Panthers for the win to extend their early season record to 4-0. Aliyanis Stubbs earned her second win of the season, helping her cause with a three-for-three night at the plate, with a double and triple, and driving in three runs. Sumner played on the road vs. the Parrish Community Bulls, returned home on Mar. 5 to host Tampa Bay Tech and will finish the week at Plant City on Friday, Mar. 7, before taking spring break.