By FRANCIS FEDOR
francisfotography@outlook.com
Stingray junior Isaiah Romano tries to rally his teammates after a double in game vs. Strawberry Crest on Mar. 10.
East Bay and Sumner continue to pace South Shore Baseball. The Indians hosted South Shore Six (SS6) rival Lennard on Mar. 10 and used a massive 12-run third for the run-away 16-2 win for their seventh win of the season. Ethan Cunningham led the way with a 3-4 night with four RBIs and a double. Rowland Ruiz Jr. and Jeffrey Diab each contributed three RBIs for the Indians. Connor Gavigan tossed five innings for the win, his first of the season, and stuck out seven Longhorns. Julian Ware and Jacob Gonzalez had the only hits for Lennard.
The Indians traveled to 11-1 Gaither on Thursday and failed to keep the offense going from the Lennard win, losing 4-1. JJ Groover took the tough luck loss, allowing only two earned runs in 2.2 innings of work. East Bay opened the Saladino tournament on Mar. 14, facing Gaither for the second time in two days, but could not change its fortunes and dropped a 13-5 decision. The Cowboys are ranked 34 in Florida and are off to a hot start to the season. The Indians allowed 11 Gaither runs from the second to the fourth innings. Head coach Rowland Ruiz used five different arms to try to slow down the Cowboys. Gavigan had the best success from the plate, going 3-3 as a bright spot in an otherwise tough day.
East Bay will play its first ever match-up, at home, against the newest SS6 member, Morgan, on Mar. 24.
Meanwhile, Sumner got another strong start from Ethan DeJesus in traveling to play a struggling Riverview team. Ethan posted his fourth win of the season, going three innings, holding the Sharks hitless and striking out seven. DeJesus was on a pitch count and started the opening game of the Saladino tourney. Diankel Barrios hit his second homer of the season. Winston Pennant had a big game, going 3-4 and driving in two of the Stingray runs.
The Stingrays hosted 8-3 Strawberry Crest on Thursday night in another marquee match-up. The Chargers struck first, scoring two runs in the fourth and adding another in the fifth. Sumner rallied with two in the sixth, but the Chargers’ pitching hung on for the 3-2 win. The Rays had a number of early opportunities but could not find the key hit to gain the early advantage. The Chargers used a fly ball that eluded the left fielder to score the first Straw Crest runs. Pennant went 2-3 and drove in a run with two doubles, and Isaiah Romano continues to be an extra base hit machine with two doubles of his own. He leads the Stingrays with eight doubles.
The Stingrays opened Saladino action with an 8-6 win over Robinson. Ethan DeJesus posted another quality start for his
Sumner senior Sebastian Rodriguez checks for signs before stepping up to the plate in game vs. Strawberry Crest on Mar. 10.
fifth win of the season, tossing 4.2 innings of one-hit ball, allowing a single earned run striking out 12. Ethan is now ranked seventh with 54 strikeouts and ninth in wins for the state of Florida and 25th and 24th respectively in the Nation. Pennant blasted his second homer of the season, one of his two hits. Sumner used a five-run fourth to jump out a 6-2 lead. The Knights staged a late rally but fell short as the Stingrays held on for the win. Sumner resumes regular season action with a marquee home game vs powerhouse Bloomingdale on Mar. 24.
Lennard responded with a 13-2 win over winless King on Thursday night. The Longhorns scored two runs in each of the first three innings and broke out for a seven-run fourth to run-rule the Lions. Mason Menotti went all five innings, allowing two runs, none earned with seven strikeouts. The victory was a total team effort as seven Longhorn hitters had at least a hit, with Yovani DePablos, Luis Valentin-Ramos and Eli Selvey each having two hits and driving in at least one run.
The Longhorns opened Saladino on what started out as a soggy Saturday morning that required the team, coaches, and others to get the field into game-ready action after late Friday into early Saturday storms. The game was delayed a bit, but the amazing efforts of coach Victor Martinez and the team made it work. Their efforts did not translate into success as Newsome scored a 5-2 victory. The Longhorns staged a comeback with two runs in the fourth, but neither team lit the scoreboard after the fourth. Christian Skaggs went 4.2 innings, giving up four earned runs. Jacob Gonzalez came up with a key hit in the two-run fourth that scored Mikie Locke and Luis Valentin-Ramos.
Lennard resumes action after Saladino with a home game vs Spoto on Mar. 24.
Morgan dropped a couple of home games to Steinbrenner and Newsome with almost identical scores, 13-1 to Warriors and 12-1 to the Newsome Wolves, as the program continues to get game experience under its belt.
Lennard JV players help out to get the field into playing condition to open the Saladino tournament after overnight rains soaked the area.
Spoto hosted Plant City on Tuesday, Mar. 10, and lost its eighth consecutive game, 8-2. Plant City carried a 4-2 lead into the fourth, the Spartans rallied to get back within two runs, but the Raiders added four in the seventh to salt away the win. Antonio Roberts fared well in the loss, giving the Spartans three innings from the mound and striking out five while only allowing two earned runs. Na’Im Salter went 2-3 with a double and an RBI for the Spartan offense. Spoto ended its losing streak with a gritty 6-3 win over the one-win Brooks DeBartolo squad to open Saladino action. Roberts earned the win with six innings of two-hit, two-run baseball. Five different Spartans doubled in the win. Braylen Byrd sparked the offense with a 3-4, two RBI performance and had one of the five doubles.
Spoto plays the aforementioned game at Lennard on Mar. 24.
Riverview broke out the bats after the loss to Sumner, winning back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 17. The Sharks shut-out both Chamberlain (Mar. 12) and Leto (Saladino on Mar. 14) scoring 27 runs in nine innings of run-rule baseball. Driston Marino picked up the 16-0 win over the Storm to open the week. Peyton Newman drove in three runs with a triple, and Marino helped his own cause with a pair of doubles and three RBIs. The Sharks followed up that win with another, getting a follow-up shut-out, one-hit effort from Jackson Hill. Kaden Hess hit his second HR of the season and drove in four runs to pace the offense.
Riverview travels to Plant City on Mar. 24, after completing its Saladino tourney play.
The SS6 continued action in the Saladino tournament, just before this edition went to press, with the goal of reaching the
Longhorn starter Christian Skaggs waits for the umpire to ensure the ball is ready to play in the first game of the Saladino tournament at Lennard HS, one of the host schools across the Tampa Bay region.
finals in their respective division. East Bay and Lennard faced a tough road to the finals with one-loss on the season, Gaither and Tampa Catholic, as well as two-loss Bloomingdale and Jefferson standing in the way. Sumner has the best chance in the Silver division with two-loss Freedom being a potential finals match-up if both teams win the games they should win. But on-paper does not always translate onto the field.
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Francis Fedor Photos
Sumner senior Erik Farmer greets his fellow infielders prior to game vs. Strawberry Crest on Mar. 10.