“The guys went unbeaten at home and won the series today,” said head coach Tim Hill II. “It was a good ballgame, especially when you’re the one team that has two runs and not the one that has one, so for a 2-1 ballgame I thought both sides pitched good, but we got more timely hits than they did.”
Hill II sent sophomore Tony Rossi to the mound, while Polk State head coach Al Corbeil sent freshman Major Posey to counter.
After the first inning went scoreless, the Manatees would get on the board first in the bottom of the second after an RBI groundout by freshman Jake Jackson brought in classmate Harrison Long.
At the top of the fourth, the Eagles would respond back and tie the game thanks to an RBI single by freshman Carter Geier to make it 1-1.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Manatees regained the lead off of an RBI single by sophomore Rook Ellington that brought in freshman Joel Pérez to make it 2-1.
“This game was a grind,” said Ellington. “Our bats didn’t wake up until the fourth or fifth inning and finally me and Joel got two back-to-back two-out hits and ended up taking on them. The pitchers best pitch all night was a curveball and a lot of our hitters were struggling with it. He had a big 1-1 count and I knew he was going to throw his best pitch, so I saw his curveball, guessed right and hit it.”
After Rossi threw a lead off walk at the top of the sixth, Hill II decided to pull him out and send Thurmond to the mound and he would breeze through the inning with ease.
Although the Manatees bats grew quiet, Thurmond’s pitching made the difference as the product of Bradenton Christian was able to seal the deal and strikeout the side in the ninth for a Manatee win.
Rossi would earn his second win of the season after giving up one run on one hit with five walks and six strikeouts in five innings. Rossi is now 2-2 this season.
Thurmond would get his second save of the season after throwing four scoreless innings of relief with three strikeouts.
“This game was huge today,” said Thurmond. “Although the batters didn’t hit super well, they still grinded. Tony didn’t have his best stuff, but he’s a dog on the mound and grind it out. I was fortunate that I was able to come in and help him out, and the defense and offense helped me out and we ended up beating Polk.”
“I thought Tony and Eli dominated tonight against the hitters with a combined one-hitter,” said Hill on Rossi and Thurmond. “It’s very rare to see on our part and that shows our dominance and that was good to see.”
Posey would get the loss after giving up two runs on five hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings. Posey would fall to 0-4 this season.
Freshman Ethan Steven’s threw one scoreless inning of relief with one strikeout.
Long, Pérez, Ellington and sophomores Tucker Mitchell and Owen Ayers had the Manatees combined five hits.
Geier had the only hit for the Eagles.
Notes:
This would be win #299 for coach Hill and is one shy of reaching 300 career wins as head coach.
Other Suncoast Scores:
#20 Florida Southwestern State (21-8, 5-1 Suncoast) swept the series over Hillsborough (7-13, 1-5 Suncoast) claiming the final two games by scores of 7-2 and 6-2.
South Florida State College (11-16, 1-5 Suncoast) were able to get their first win in the Suncoast as they defeated St. Pete (14-7, 4-2 Suncoast) 7-5.
Suncoast Standings:
1. #20 FSW (21-8, 5-1)
2. #11 SCF (20-8, 5-1)
3. SPC (14-7, 4-2)
4. Polk State (16-14, 2-4)
5. SFSC (11-16, 1-5)
6. HCC (7-13, 1-5)
Up Next:
The Manatees continue Suncoast Conference play with another series as they face St. Pete.
Hill has given sophomore Daniel Batcher the nod to start game one. For game two , Hill will likely lean on freshman Nick Consentino to start, but that’s likely to change. Sophomore Matt Gelorme will be given the nod for game three.
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