Player of the Day: Matthew Dickey, North Florida Christian
2-3, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI
Pitcher of the Day:
Austin Pollock, Lincoln
CG, 7 IP, 2 H, 2 R (0 ER), 8 K
Broken Arrow 6
Florida High 2
The first matchup of the day featured the team traveling the farthest from the venue, the Broken Arrow Tigers from Oklahoma. They showed no signs of bus lag however, as they earned a 6-2 victory over Florida High (Tallahassee, FL).
Florida High was the first team to strike, plating a run in the top of the first. Makel Young would reach on a single, and move to second base on a two-out error by the Broken arrow third baseman. After a base hit from Dylan Casseaux moved Young to third, he would be brought in by Matt Falstrom’s single. The Seminole would then add another run in the second. After a hit by pitch, a single and a walk loaded the bases, Mason Thornton would wear a pitch, forcing in a second run for Florida High.
The Tigers would come back in the third inning thanks to an RBI double from Landon Hulet and an RBI single from Mack Chambers. They would then blow the game open in the fifth inning, scoring four runs on three hits and two errors. Chambers would start things off with another RBI single, followed by a two-run hit from Colton Croft. After a pitching change, Tucker Dunlap would add another to the score, scoring Croft on a fielder’s choice. That would end the scoring for the day, making a final of 6-2.
Nolan Sturgeon picked up the win for Broken Arrow, throwing six innings while giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Keaton Stamp threw the final frame, striking out two in a perfect effort. Leadoff man Landon Hulet sparked the offense, going 1-2 with a double, a walk, scoring twice, knocking in one and swiping two bags. Chambers was 2-3 with two RBI.
Maclay 5
Florida Palm Coast 0
The Maclay Marauders, making their first FHSI appearance since 2009, came out strong in their first matchup of the tournament, shutting out the Flagler Palm Bulldogs.
Maclay took painful advantage of some wild pitching from FPC, with four batters being hit in the first two innings. Billy Grant would plate the first run of the game with a groundout to third, and Andrew Higdon would get hit three batters later to drive in a second. After Matt Boynton tossed a scoreless top of the second, the Marauders would add another run on a Matt Caballero sacrifice fly that scored Will Choi. Sloppy defensive play in the third inning would lead to the final two runs of the game as two runs would score on an error by the shortstop.
Five runs were more than enough for Boyton, who held the Bulldogs to three hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked none, and only threw 69 pitches. Max MxKinley would come on in the seventh to close things out for Maclay, with a strikeout during his perfect frame. Emerson Cheney took the loss for FPC, allowing five runs (only two earned) in six innings of work. Andrew Higdon led the Maclay offense, going 1-2 with a run and RBI. He also made a very impressive diving catch in center field, robbing the Bulldogs of an extra base hit in the 1st.
North Florida Christian 15
Barron Collier 4
The stadium was buzzing for the mid-afternoon contest between NFC and Barron Collier. The Eagles were starting Cole Ragans on the mound, a senior LHP who is committed to plat at Florida State next year. More than twenty scouts were at the park to watch the tall lefty in action. While they were there to watch an arm, it was the bats of NFC that really stood out.
The Eagles scored in every inning except the fifth, including five runs in each of the fourth and sixth innings. Nine players recorded a hit for the Eagles, with five players … Matthew Dickey, JD Tease, Chris Jerry, Taylor Schmidt and Stephen Velez … picking up two hits each. Dickey would end the day 2-3 with a home run, three runs and two RBI. Travis Ray went 1-3 with a home run, two runs and three batted in.
Ragans struggled a bit with his control, but was still impressive enough to take a no-hitter in to the fifth inning. He would lose his bid on a double off the bat off Marc Coffers, and the day with a line of 4.1 innings, four hits, four runs (two earned), three walks and five strikeouts. Brandon Schmidt would close out the final five outs, striking out two.
Barron Collier was led by Coffers, who was 2-4 with two doubles and a run scored. He is committed to play at SEC power Mississippi State next year.
Lincoln 6
Palmetto Ridge 2
The Lincoln Trojans would grab an early lead that they refused to relinquish en route to a 6-2 win over Palmetto Ridge. Austin Pollock would fire a complete game for the Trojans, while Steven Laboy took a tough loss after a complete game performance of his own.
After Jesse Hall and Ryan Hagen reached on singles to start the game, Laboy was able to get two outs to make things tense early on. Travis Hall didn’t wait long to kill the suspense, lacing a single down the left field line that would score both runners, and give Lincoln a 2-0 lead. A sac fly form Jesse Hall in the second inning would score Josiah Miller and make it 3-0. In the third inning, Hall would reach on a double, followed by Bo Seccombe getting on via an error. With two outs, and both runners in scoring position, Jake Standridge would come through with a two-run single, pushing the lead to 5-0.
Palmetto would make things interesting in the top of the fourth when an error and a walk put two men on. After a grounder to the right side moved both runners up a base, Steve Laboy helped his own cause by singling in both runners to make it 5-2. The Bears would not be able to rally against the hard throwing lefty Pollock, and would not score for the rest of the game. Lincoln would tack on one more run in the fifth on a sac fly from Standridge, making the final score of 6-2.
Pollock impressed on the mound, racking up eight strikeouts over seven innings. He allowed only two singles and a walk, and gave up zero earned runs. Laboy was no slouch either, whiffing seven over six innings of work. Hall would finish the day 2-3 with a double, a run and two RBI while his teammate Standridge went 1-2 with three RBI.
Osceola 6
Okeechobee 2
The third 6-2 final of the day went to the Osceola Kowboys, who defeated the Okeechobee Brahmans in the day’s final matchup.
A lengthy first inning saw both teams get on the board quickly. Jarred Morgan started things off for ‘Chobee with a leadoff single, followed by a walk to Armando Rodriguez and a single by Gabe Greseth to load the bases. Defensive miscues cost the Kowboys as a wild pitch and a throwing error allowed two runs to score. The lead would not last as Herwin Diaz got on base and was promptly brought in on a Francisco Thomas double in the bottom half. Herbert Iser would then plate Thomas with a single two batters later to knot the score at deuces.
The score would remain tied until the fourth when Jorge Ramirez scored on an error to make it 3-2. Then, in the fifth inning, Dallas Beaver would bring home Kevin Silva with an RBI single, and would then score two batters later on an error. Silva would drive in the sixth and final run for the Kowboys with a single in the sixth, scoring Armando Olmeda.
Orlando Ortiz was effective on the mound for Osceola, throwing six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and striking out five. Ryan Daniel took the loss for Okeechobee. Silva was 3-4 on the night to lead the Kowboy offense.