Scores, Videos and Recaps From Tuesday Night's Action
BASEBALL
Tampa Catholic 6, Tampa Prep 0
TC senior Conor Grady did his thing on the mound, and at the plate, as the Crusaders beat the Terrapins 6-0 on Tuesday night. The FSU commit reached base safely in his first three plate appearances, and in his fourth, he hit a sacrifice fly to left-center that was mere feet from going over the fence. On the hill Grady threw a complete game shutout giving up only one hit and striking out six.
The offensive star of the game had to be Crusaders 1st baseman Calvin Rucker. The Prairie View A&M commit was 3 for 4 with two doubles and a mammoth home run in the top of the 3rd inning.
Tanner Alvarado and Cristian Docobo had back-to-back RBI doubles in the 7th to put the game out of reach. Docobo also had an RBI double in the 3rd as well.
JD Urso picked up the only hit on the evening for Tampa Prep and made some sparkling plays in the field at shortstop.
King 11, Leto 0
King’s offense posted two runs in the first inning before pitcher Brian Lee dominated Leto’s offense and the Lions kept charging en route an 11-0 win.
Lee, a left-handed senior, scattered three Falcons hits, while striking out three and letting his defense back him up.
But the real support for Lee came from the Lions offense. Dehreon Pressley got things going in the opening frame doubling to left field, Matthew Jernigan followed with a single and Justice Thompson cashed in the two runs with a two-out single.
“That is a big lift getting that huge lead,” Lee said. “So I just want to go back out there and put up zeros to help my team win.”
King (12-8, 4-4 in Class 7A-District 8) added more in the second as an Addison Barger sac fly plated one, followed by a nicely laid squeeze bunt by Pressley to drive in another and a big two-run double from Jernigan to stretch the lead to six.
“(Leto) threw us a lot of fastball, and we’ve been working real hard in BP lately to see strikes, and wait for that mistake pitch,” Jernigan said. “We really took care of it tonight.”
Leto (10-9, 3-5 in 7A-8) struggled at the plate with Jorge Carrero as the lone hitter who seemed able to get to Lee, singling and doubling in the loss.
The Lions added one on a Zarrian Brinson single in the third and two more in the fourth as Anthony Azpeitia singled in a pair.
The Falcons did stave off a mercy-rule loss as senior Felix Rosario provided two shutout innings of work on the mound, striking out a pair. However, King pushed the total another two runs in the top of the seventh with Brinson walking and eventually scoring on a wild pitch and Jacob Keding coming through with a pinch-hit RBI.
Leto got singles in the home-half of the seventh from Jay Hernandez and Tomas Lozano, but King kept the shutout intact as Azpeitia made a catch in right field for out No. 2 and threw a rocket to Jernigan at home who applied a swipe tag on a incoming runner for the final out.
King, which will host the 7A-8 district tournament, finishes district play as the third seed, behind Hillsborough (top seed) and No. 2 seed Gaither.
Lennard 4, Tampa Bay Tech 0
Lennard (9-9) junior pitcher Victor Schilling tossed a no-hitter striking out 13 on 82 pitches as the Longhorns topped Tampa Bay Tech on Tuesday. Schilling was perfect into the sixth before walking two, but those were the only runners he would allow.
“Victor is a hard-working lefty, he hits his spots, and he was masterful tonight,” Lennard coach Kennedy Duran said. “He’s a great kid, a good student, a good teammate, like any kid he’s a work in progress, but he was on tonight and I’m very happy for him.”
Cambridge Christian 4, Lakeland Christian 2
Senior lefty Alex Smith earned the win on the mound for Cambridge Christian (15-3, 6-1 in 3A-District 4) working five innings, before Jacob Krueger came on in relief and earned the save. Krueger also chipped in at the plate going 1-for-2 with and RBI, while Zack Stein also went 1-for-2 with an RBI.
Braden River 3, Brandon 1
Brandon fell in a tough battle for the top seed in the district as Braden River senior Ryan Duncan worked a complete-game, striking out seven and allowing one unearned run. Eagles junior BJ Carter took the loss striking out four, and allowing one earned run. Zack Pommier was 2-for-3 in the loss for the Brandon (13-4).
Steinbrenner 3, Strawberry Crest 0
Steinbrenner (13-5) junior pitcher Huston Richter took a perfect game through 6.2 innings before allowing a single, but pulled out the shutout, while striking out a pair. Jordan Lala (RBI), CJ Van Eyk (run scored) and Noah Luke each had two hits in the win, and Joey Cimino (RBI) and Cam Coakley each double for the Warriors.
Newsome 10, Freedom 4
Newsome scored three runs in each of the first two innings and held on for a non-district win on Tuesday. Junior Auston Spires started things off with an RBI sac fly, before going 3-for-3 with a double three RBI in the win. Tyler Doyle (two RBI) and Cody Shook (two runs scored, RBI) also doubled for the Wolves in the win.
Plant City 3, East Bay 0
Dylan Robinson and TJ Gayner combined to allow three hits in a shutout district win over East Bay. Cody Cribbs had two hits including a double, while Hunter Emerine and Austin Eldridge each picked up RBI in the win.
Wharton 5, Durant 1
Wharton (9-8) got a complete-game effort from senior righty Aaron Cohn, allowing just four hits with seven strikeouts. Senior Drew Ehrhard and Leo Alonzo each had two hits in the win for the Wildcats.
Gaither 10, Chamberlain 2
The entire Gaither lineup recorded at least one hit as the Cowboys defeated district opponent Chamberlain on Tuesday. Kenny Rodriguez (two runs), Danny Gutcher (two RBI, run), and Jose Cadenas (two runs, RBI) each doubled in the win. The win secures the second seed in the upcoming district tournament for the Cowboys.
Hillsborough 14, Armwood 0 (five innings)
Hillsborough (12-4) smashed 15 hits, including a long ball from Jarrod Cande (his third of the season) to mercy-rule Armwood on Tuesday. Tim Elko had three hits including a double and twins Ryan (two doubles) and Nick Romano each drove in three runs. Antonio Jenkins was 3-for-3 with four RBI and a stolen base for the Terriers.
Riverview 2, Bloomingdale 1
Manny Martinez earned the win on the mound working a complete game, allowing four hits and striking out five. Dillon Besnier came through with a two-run single in the sixth to lead the comeback win for the Sharks. Justin Farmer was 2-for-2 for Riverview (14-6, 6-2 in Class 8A-District 6).
Plant 1, Alonso 0
Six days ago Plant senior John Shields had never hit a leadoff home run in his career. After accomplishing the feat against Steinbrenner last week, Shields decided to recreate it by belting a leadoff bomb against Alonso on Tuesday. The run proved decisive as Brock Fagler worked a complete game on the mound, allowing two hits, striking out eight and needing just 55 pitches leading Plant coach Dennis Braun to text he’d “never seen a better pitched game at Plant in my years (as coach).”
Jesuit 12, Jefferson 4
Jesuit’s Duncan Hunter was 2-for-4, with a home run and three RBI, McGuire Weaver was 4-for-4, scoring four runs with a double and a triple, and Thomas Bencivenga went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI in the win.
Robinson 4, Blake 0
Sophomore Koby Fogg worked four innings, allowing three hits, before junior Jake Granese worked three no-hit innings to combine for the win for the Knights. Chase Volpi had a double for Robinson in the win.
Berkeley Prep 3, Clearwater Central Catholic 0
Khalib Bayona went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, Julian Bosnic drove in a pair at the plate and struck out a dozen as the Buccaneers (10-9) defeated CCC at home on Tuesday.
Calvary Christian 10, Brooks DeBartolo 0 (five innings)
Canterbury 9, Bayshore Christian 7
Bell Creek Academy 8, SRQ Gulf Coast HEAT 4
SOFTBALL
Plant City 6, East Bay 2
Edmilly Molina had three hits, a home run and three RBI, Beka Schulte doubled and had an RBI and Lexi Moore was 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored for Plant City (14-1), which finished district play 8-0 and is the top seed for the district tourney.
Leto 13, King 2 (five innings)
Amana Ware doubled and had a pair of RBI and Britney Tirado had two hits and four RBI for the Falcons in a district win over King.
Tampa Catholic 11, Calvary Christian 5
Double: TC - Hera Varmish, Alexa Russo, Alli Adamy
Triple: TC - Madison Epperson
Alonso 12, Plant 1
Robinson 18, Blake 1 (three innings)
Armwood 13, Hillsborough 1
Wharton 7, Durant 0
Steinbrenner 14, Strawberry Crest 0
Berkeley Prep 3, Carrollwood Day 2
A BIG THANK YOU to my man Jarrett Guthrie and his contributions to this article!! I appreciate it buddy!