“Everything went right for us tonight and wrong for Eastern Florida State,” said head coach Tim Hill II.
Hill sent sophomore Jakob Mattos to the mound to start, while EFSC head coach Jason Arnold sent redshirt sophomore JT Larson to counter.
Mattos was off to a shaky start at the top of the first as he walked the first two batters, but after striking out the next two, he was able to get out of the top half of the inning. Larson was the opposite in the bottom half as he struck out the side.
“The first inning was a little shaky after walking the first two batters,” said Mattos. “But when I got two big strikeouts back-to-back, I was making a comeback to take control of the mound and competed. When I saw one of the pitchers in the bullpen, I knew I had to command the zone right away with the two strikeouts and use the team for a ground ball situation to get out of the inning. I took control of the game afterwards.”
“The game didn’t start off well when Jake walked the first two batters,” said Hill on Mattos’ first inning. “He ended up kicking it up a notch to get us out of the inning without giving up a run it hit, while EFSC’s pitcher struck out all three of our batters. It looked like it was going to be a dog fight and the floodgates started opening up for us.”
After Mattos had a strong inning at the top of the second, the Manatees would get on the board in the bottom half beginning with sophomore Tucker Mitchell getting hit by a pitch to start the inning. After classmate Jack Anderson hit a deep double to left center that almost turned into a home run, freshman Brayden Woodburn would draw a walk to load the bases for sophomore Richard Rodriguez. On the 1-2 pitch, Rodriguez was able to get a single to bring in Mitchell, but Anderson would be the third out after trying to score from second.
One inning later, the Manatees extended their lead. After a one-out single by sophomore Rook Ellington before advancing to third on a pickoff attempt, freshman Harrison Long would send a single to left to bring in Ellington. Mitchell and Anderson would draw back-to-back walks freshman Kevin Karstetter sent a single left to bring in Long. One batter later, Woodburn would send a single to left to bring in Mitchell and Anderson to make it 5-0 SCF.
In the bottom of the fourth, sophomore Owen Ayers would hit a leadoff solo blast for his fourth of the season. After Long and Mitchell drew back-to-back walks, Arnold would make a switch to send freshman Daemon Woodruff to the mound.
After the pitching change, Anderson would send a hard single to left and bring in Long. Sophomore AJ Fritz would then send a single to center and bring in Mitchell. Woodburn would then send a double to left to bring in Karstetter and Fritz for a 10-0 lead before freshman Cory Leech came in for Woodruff to get out of the inning.
While Mattos continued his dominance on the mound with a no-hitter, the Manatees continued their offensive onslaught in the bottom of the fifth. After Ayers drew a leadoff walk and Ellington hit a single to left, freshman Drew Macciocchi would come in to pinch run for Ellington before Long sent a triple to left to bring in Ayers and Macciocchi to extend the lead. Mitchell would then get hit by a pitch before freshman Jake Jackson came in to pinch run. Anderson would then send a sacrifice fly to bring in Long to make it 13-0 SCF. Sophomore Jacob Steinberg would then hit a single to right before Woodburn drew a walk to load the bases for freshman Aidan Gallagher, who came in to pinch hit for Rodriguez. On a 3-1 count, Gallagher would send a single to center and bring in Jackson and Steinberg to make it 15-0 SCF.
Arnold would make another pitching change and send freshman Dominic Baratta to the mound before Ayers sent a triple to left to bring in Woodburn and Gallagher for before Macciocchi struck out to end the inning.
Mattos’ no-hitter would come to an end early as freshman Jason Blackstone would hit a leadoff single. After Mattos threw a walk and got one out on a fielder’s choice, Hill decided to make a switch and send freshman Dylan Vega to the mound while Mattos got a standing ovation from his teammates. Vega was able to end the top half of the sixth after coming in.
“Honestly, I wasn’t worried about how many hits I gave up, I was trying to command the zone and letting the defense take control,” said Mattos on his no-hitter broken.
“I took Mattos out because I was trying to pay attention to his pitch count,” said Hill on pulling Mattos. “This was about as deep as Jake has been in a game and we had some long innings, so with him sitting down for that prolong period of rest, that’s why I warmed up Vega just in case Jake wasn’t effective.”
In the bottom of the sixth, the Manatees decided to add a few more runs to the scoreboard. After back-to-back singles by Jackson and freshman Charlie Davidson before Karstetter drew a walk to load the bases, Steinberg would then draw a bases-loaded walk to bring in Davidson. Jackson would then score on a Woodburn sacrifice fly before Gallagher drew a walk to load the bases for Ayers as he sent a double to left to bring in Karstetter and Steinberg to make it 21-0 SCF.
Vega would throw the final inning in success as the mercy rule came in for an SCF win.
Mattos earned his first win of the season after throwing five and a third scoreless innings, giving up the lone hit with three walks and five strikeouts. Mattos is now 1-0 this season.
Vega threw one and two-thirds innings of relief with one strikeout.
Larson would be dubbed with the loss after giving up five runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts in three innings.
Five Manatees had a multi-RBI game. Ayers lead the way for the Manatees offense as he went 3-for-5 with five RBI. In fact, he was a single shy of hitting the cycle.
Woodburn finished 2-for-4 with five RBI, while Long finished 2-for-3 with three RBI, Anderson finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and Gallagher went 1-for-1 with two RBI and a walk.
“I’ve been struggling recently on the little things and I feel like I’ve been taking a step back and watching videos to see what I can work on with coach Glass, who has been a big help,” said Woodburn on his game. “It felt good to get back into it.”
Karstetter (1-for-4, one RBI), Fritz (1-for-2, one RBI), Steinberg (1-for-1, one RBI) and Rodriguez (1-for-3, one RBI) had the remaining
Notes:
Gallagher made his SCF debut after transferring from Rockland Community College in Ramapo, New York.
“It was awesome,” said Gallagher on his debut. “It’s a lot different than what I’m use to up north, but it was a lot of fun.”
“Aidan is a good player,” said Hill on Gallagher. “That’s why I brought him in and told him that we’re bringing him in for some depth. He came highly recommended by a very well respected scout even though he got here a little late and his teammate Sean (Dertinger), who will also be making his debut in the near future for us. Aidan is very athletic player and it was good to get him in the game with a couple of nice at-bats and a nice play in the infield.”
This was win #291 for Hill as head coach for the Manatees.
The 21 runs were the most scored under the Hill II era.
Other Suncoast Scores:
Florida Southwestern State (14-6) defeated Pasco-Hernando State (9-9) 5-2.
South Florida State College (8-10) fell to Seminole State College (8-6) 8-3.
St. Pete College (9-4) defeated TNXL Tampa 14-3.
Up Next:
The Manatees will face EFSC in a rematch Wednesday night, February 24 at 5 pm at Bruce Bochy Field in Melbourne. Sophomore Tony Rossi will be given the nod to start the game.
“It was awesome,” said Gallagher on his debut. “It’s a lot different than what I’m use to up north, but it was a lot of fun.”
“Aidan is a good player,” said Hill on Gallagher. “That’s why I brought him in and told him that we’re bringing him in for some depth. He came highly recommended by a very well respected scout even though he got here a little late and his teammate Sean (Dertinger), who will also be making his debut in the near future for us. Aidan is very athletic player and it was good to get him in the game with a couple of nice at-bats and a nice play in the infield.”
This was win #291 for Hill as head coach for the Manatees.
The 21 runs were the most scored under the Hill II era.
Other Suncoast Scores:
Florida Southwestern State (14-6) defeated Pasco-Hernando State (9-9) 5-2.
South Florida State College (8-10) fell to Seminole State College (8-6) 8-3.
St. Pete College (9-4) defeated TNXL Tampa 14-3.
Up Next:
The Manatees will face EFSC in a rematch Wednesday night, February 24 at 5 pm at Bruce Bochy Field in Melbourne. Sophomore Tony Rossi will be given the nod to start the game.
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