By FRANCIS FEDOR
Sumner led off the week with a huge 1-0 road win over the Plant City Raiders, one of the top teams in Florida (#157 in 2025). Ethan DeJesus made his first start of the season and was nearly perfect over five innings, striking out 14 (nine in a row at one point) and not allowing a hit. The only blemish was a hit-by-pitch and walk to the first two hitters he faced.
Jaylin Chambers tossed two innings for the save. On offense, the Stingray bats were quieted with only two hits allowed by
Raider pitching, but that did just enough to score the only run needed on the night.
Francis Fedor Photos
Lennard Longhorn senior Christian Skaggs tosses a warm-up pitch in-between innings of Feb. 17 game vs. Durant.
Morgan infielders gather to discuss strategy with their pitching coach, Ralph Proulx, in win over King on Feb. 19.
Mustangs freshman Easton Shoulders (24) conferred with Ian Troy before the Mustangs defeated King on Feb. 19 for the first win ever for Morgan.
The Stingrays tried to carry the momentum into a Friday night match-up on the road against the 3-1 Freedom Patriots but fell 11-10 in a nine-inning thriller. The Patriots leveraged a big six-run second inning to stake themselves to a lead, but Sumner battled back with four in the top of the third. The Rays took a 9-6 lead in the top of the fifth, but Freedom battled back to tie. Both teams went scoreless in the next two innings with Sumner taking a brief 10-9 lead in the top of the ninth, but Freedom found two runs for the walk-off win. Winston Pennant, Jaylin Chambers and D Berrios each drove in two runs, with Pennant adding a triple in his at-bats. Chambers took the loss, giving up the game winning runs to the Patriots.
Sumner faces off against Armwood on Feb. 26 on Balm Road, hosts Plant the next night and meets a South Shore Six (SS6) rival in traveling to Gibsonton to face the East Bay Indians.
Lennard, in its only game of the week, led 2-1 after four innings but could not generate enough offense to grab a win over the Durant Cougars and fell 5-2. The offense struggled to find the key hit and wasted a strong effort by Christian Skaggs, who went five innings, giving up two runs, none earned, and K’d five before giving way to Tommy Martinez. The Longhorns struggled in the field with five errors in a game that slipped away in the final three innings. Jacob Gonzalez led the offense with two hits.
The Longhorns play a rare Saturday 10 a.m. game on the road vs Chamberlain on Feb. 28 and host Plant City on March 3 in Ruskin.
Morgan continued its search for the program’s first win and fell 12-4 to Riverview at home in Wimauma. Driston Marino went 3-4 with one of Sharks three doubles and picked up the win from his start on the mound. Marino struck out five and did not allow an earned run. Justin Edwards drove in three RBIs and his first HR in his Riverview career.
The Mustangs used a huge seven-run third inning to propel Lastings Milledge and Morgan to their first program win, a 10-7 victory, over the now 0-5 King Lions. Carnell Dean was a catalyst in the success, going 3 for 4 and driving in two runs. Aaron Lord contributed a double in a 2-4 night at the plate, scoring twice and driving in two. Easton Shoulders also drove in two and tossed two innings of one-run baseball, K’ing three. Yeilen Rodriquez set down six Lions and allowed one earned run in facing 20 King hitters. It was a team effort to get the Mustangs in the win column.
Morgan plays four games in the next seven days, traveling to Plant on Feb. 26, at home vs Hillsborough (in a district game) on Feb. 28, back on the road to Bayshore on March 2 and hosting Bloomingdale on March 3. It will be a tough stretch for the Mustangs.
Spoto lost 12-0 and became the third South Shore Six victim of the Bloomingdale Bulls, who have only allowed four runs (also shutting out East Bay) in those games. In a bright spot, Spoto pitching did not allow an extra-bases hit to the Bulls. Bloomingdale’s Luke Long kept the Spartans in check in notching his first win of the season and set down 11 Spoto hitters by way of the strikeout.
The Spartans fell to 1-3 on the early season with a 14-4 loss on the road to the Hillsborough Terriers. The Terriers posted runs in all but the 2nd of the six innings played, ending the game on a run-rule. Nathan Rodriguez doubled andscored, and Antonio Roberts drove in a pair of runs in the loss for Spoto. A. Roberts picked up the win for the Terriers on 4.1 innings pitched, and although he allowed four runs, none were earned.
Spoto then faced Newsome on Feb. 24 and returns home on March 3 to play 3-1 Durant.
East Bay had a strong week, running off three consecutive wins, starting with a 5-1 home win over Newsome on Feb. 17.
Knox Myers did not allow a hit and pitched three scoreless innings to earn the win. Trenden Norman went 1-3, drove in two of the five runs and scored a run in the win. Two days later, at home, the Indians beat Alonso 6-5 in walk-off fashion with three runs in the eighth inning. Four different East Bay hitters (Bennett, Norman, Ruiz Jr., Myers) found a gap for a double, and Jeffrey Diab had a big game, going 3-4 and driving in two runs.
And East Bay wrapped up the week traveling south to Bradenton and coming away with another 6-5 win, this time over Braden River. A three-run fourth keyed the victory. Jackson Rana came up big with two doubles and drove in two runs in three plate appearances. Senior Jaxson Farchione picked up the win, scattering three hits over three innings and allowing one earned run for his first win of the season.
Lennard Longhorn infielders Julian Ware (1) and Dalton Vernetti (21) make a play to force out a Durant runner during game on Feb. 17.
East Bay hosts Steinbrenner at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28 and travels to face SS6 rival Sumner on March 3.
Riverview defeated the Morgan Mustangs on Feb. 17, details discussed earlier in the article. The Sharks then hosted Freedom, and the offense went quiet in a 9-1 loss to the Patriots. J. Edwards had two hits in three at-bats and scored the only run. Riverview wrapped up its week on Feb. 21 with a 9-0 loss to the Plant Panthers. Plant pitching did not allow a Shark hit and managed 14 of its own in the victory.
Riverview will play three at home, after having played nearby Bloomingdale (4-1) on Tuesday; facing Sickles on Feb. 26; Wharton (3-0) at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28; and Newsome on March 3.