SCF Baseball Take Game One Over SJRS

Bradenton, Fla - The bats of the SCF baseball team (13-7) were unrelenting as they were able to take the first game of the three-game series over St. John’s River State (11-8) by a score of 18-1 in seven innings. With the win, the Manatees are now 3-1 against the Vikings.

“St. John’s River threw a really good arm at us with Gause, who I heard signed with LSU,” said head coach Tim Hill II. “We had a couple of big innings and that turned out to be the difference in the game for us to get the win.”

Hill II sent sophomore Daniel Batcher to the mound, while St. John’s River State head coach Ross Jones sent freshman Dawson Gause to counter.

After Batcher breezed through the top of the first  with two strikeouts, Gause was able to do the same and make it into a pitchers dual.

In the bottom of the second, the Manatees would get on the board first. After a lead-off double by sophomore Jack Anderson, freshman Kevin Karstetter would send a single to left. After Karstetter stole second and third, freshman Brayden Woodburn would hit a single to right and bring in Karstetter for a 2-0 SCF lead.

The Vikings would get their first run on the board at the top of the third after freshman Kyle Smith drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the SCF lead to 2-1, but Batcher was still able to get out of the inning.

While Batcher got out of a couple of tough situations for the next two innings, the Manatees would add on to their lead. After a one-out triple by freshman Jake Jackson would send a triple to left before sophomore Richard Rodriguez sent a hard single to center to bring in Jackson.

After sophomore Rook Ellington and freshman Harrison Long drew back-to-back walks, sophomore Tucker was hit by a pitch and brought in Rodriguez. Anderson would then send a single to right to bring in Ellington before Karstetter drew a bases-loaded walk to give the Manatees a 6-1 lead. This signaled the end for Gause as Jones sent in freshman Jackson Hodnick to the mound.

After the pitching change, sophomore AJ Fritz would clear the bases with a double and give the Manatees a 9-1 lead. Woodburn would then follow with an RBI single to bring in Fritz as the Manatees batted around to make it 10-1 SCF before the end of the inning.

The Manatees would continue to add runs in the bottom of the sixth while Jones sent . After a one-out walk by Mitchell and a ground rule double by Anderson, Karstetter would send a sacrifice fly to right and bring in Mitchell. Fritz would then reach first on a fielding error while Anderson scored to make it 12-1 SCF. After Woodburn reached first after being hit by a pitch before freshman Charlie Davidson came in to pinch run, Jackson would send a single to center to bring in Fritz for a 13-1 SCF lead.

After Steinberg drew a walk to load the bases, Ellington would then draw a bases loaded walk before freshman Joel Perez came in to pinch run. Freshman Aidan Gallagher would drew a bases loaded walk to bring in Davidson before Mitchell cleared the bases with a double to put the Manatees up 18-1 before Fritz came in to pitch for Batcher and close the door for the win.

Batcher would earn the win after giving up one run on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts in six innings. Batcher is now 3-1 on the season.

Fritz threw a scoreless inning of relief with two strikeouts while going 1-for-3 with three RBI and two runs.

“Although he hasn’t been on the mound that many times, I really like him as a pitcher,” said Hill on Fritz pitching. “He’s a great position player for us, but I like him on the mound too. We just haven’t put him in the game and hasn’t come up for whatever reason, but he’s a guy I look back to see where we’re at and who we need to be able to throw some significant innings for us when it really counts and he for sure is one of them. He competes, throws strikes and can spin it a little bit.”

“It was his third appearance today, but that’s no indicator to say that I won’t put him in to pitch and I plan to pitch him a lot because he's one of our better guys out of the bullpen.”

Gause would go to 3-1 after the loss after giving up nine runs on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts in four and a third.

Anderson and Jackson each had three hits and an RBI. Anderson added three runs scored, while Jackson added two. Woodburn would go 2-for-3 with two RBI.

Mitchell lead the team with four RBI while going 1-for-3 with two runs and a walk, while Karstetter was 1-for-2 with three RBI, two stolen bases and two runs scored and Rodriguez and went 1-for-3 with an one RBI.

Freshman Connor Morgan was the lone Viking with a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-3 with a run.

Notes:
This was win #292 for Hill and he remains eight away from reaching 300 career wins as head coach for the Manatees.

Other Suncoast Scores:
South Florida State College (10-11) split a doubleheader with ASA Miami (2-11) at home winning game one 8-3 before losing game two 6-4.

St. Pete College (10-5) defeated Lake Sumter State (10-9) 29-9.

Florida Southwestern State (15-7) defeated Miami Dade (11-9)8-6.

Polk State (13-9) fell to Daytona State (10-2) by a score of 11-8.

Up Next:
The Manatees remain at home to wrap up the series with St. John’s River with a doubleheader at Wynn Field. Game one will start at 1 pm and game two will start at 4 pm*. Hill will give freshman Nick Consentino the nod to start the first game and sophomore Matt Gelorme the nod for the second game.
Postgame Interview Link^: 
^side note: this was the first postgame game with more than three players and the first postgame Interview in video form.