“We haven’t left ourself a lot of room to error,” said head coach Tim Hill. “St. Pete is a well-coached program with really good players and it’s tough to sweep people in this league, so it was good to see us do that. We played well on our home field the whole year and we challenge our guys to keep that up and they did.”!
“It was a big win for us,” said sophomore Cole Ayers. “We need to win out kind of from here on out and the sweep was huge for our team and what we’re try to do later on in the year. I get like we were in complete control from the first pitch on. I felt like they (SPC) didn’t stand a chance when they came to our field.”
“It was a pretty good today,” said freshman Brayden Woodburn. “We started out really hot after Jake (Jackson) hit the solo home run and I felt that gave us a lot of momentum. When Cole (Ayers) came out, he shoved the whole game, so it felt good.”
Hill sent Cole Ayers to the mound, while SPC head coach Ryan Beckman sent freshman Bryce Fisher to counter.
The Manatees would be the first to get on the board as freshman Jake Jackson sent a one-out solo homer to right for his second of the season.
“I was looking for a good pitch to hit,” said Jackson on his home run. “When the opportunity came, I got it and took advantage of it. I’m glad I was able to get us a momentum and the hitters started to hit before Cole shoved and got the dub.”
One inning later, the Manatees extended their lead. After Woodburn and sophomore Jacob Steinberg drew walks, freshman Joel Perez would send Woodburn home with a single before sophomore Tucker Mitchell sent a three run blast to left for his fifth of the season to make it 5-0 SCF.
“Throughout the course of the game, after my first at-bat, I watched how they (SPC) were attacking hitters,” said Mitchell on his home run. “The majority of the time it seemed as if they were coming inside with the fastball after the first couple of pitches, so I was really trying to set my sights there and turns out I got it, put a good swing on it and it went a long ways.”
At the top of the fourth, Cole Ayers put himself into a jam after putting two runners in scoring position, but the upcoming Cincinnati transfer pulled off a big moment with three straight strikeouts to end the top half.
At the top of the seventh, the Titans would finally get their first run on the board as sophomore Christian Riveria sent a solo home run to left for his sixth of the season, but that made the Manatees respond back strongly. After Mitchell and Jackson hit back-to-back singles, Mitchell would steal third before sophomore Owen Ayers sent a double to center to bring in Mitchell.
Classmate Jack Anderson would then sent a sacrifice fly to center to bring in Jackson. After freshman Kevin Karstetter drew a walk, Woodburn would turn the ignition on the Manatees offense as he sent a three-run blast to left for his fourth of the season to make it 10-1 SCF.
“I don’t really think much when I’m at the plate, I just like to be comfortable in the box,” said Woodburn on his home run. “I felt like if I start thinking, then I overthink things and that’s when things get messed up. The pitcher threw a curveball for a first pitch strike, then a high fastball. I felt like he was going back to throwing the curve since I watched it and he just hung it which I took a shot at in success.”
At the top of the eighth, freshman Justin Turk would send reach on a error while classmate El Rico Riley scored. At the top of the ninth, the Titans would add one final run as freshman Carlos Castillo reached on an error, while Rivera scored, but it was all they could produce as the Manatees pulled away with the win.
“That was something we were going for throughout in our minds,” said Mitchell on getting the sweep. “We knew we had to take it one game at a time and to be able to do that felt really good for our team to keep going to go out and finish strong.”
Cole Ayers would earn his fourth win of the season after giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts in eight innings. He is now 4-1 on the season.
“I was hitting my spots and relying on Donnie (Robinson) for good pitches,” said Cole Ayers on his game. “Jack (Anderson) worked hard behind the plate and we connected well together and we just ready to get after it.”
“Cole is a guy we can count on and he showed what he’s capable of doing and was in control the whole way,” said Hill on Cole Ayers. “I thought he was very competitive. The fourth inning show what he was capable when he had runners in scoring position and no outs and then get three straight strikeouts to keep SPC from scoring and showed some emotion at the end of it. He did a great job from start to finish.”
Sophomore David Barrett gave up one unearned run in two-third of an inning of relief with a walk and two strikeouts, while classmate Tony Rossi threw the remaining third of an inning.
Fisher would fall to 3-5 after giving up five runs on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts in five innings.
Mitchell and Jackson both had a multi-hit game. Mitchell went 3-for-5 with a home run, three RBI and a stolen base, while Jackson was 2-for-4 with a home run, one walk and a stolen base. Mitchell finished the series 6-for-14 with two home runs and seven RBI, while Jackson finished with 5-for-10 with a home run and two RBI.
“Jake and Tucker have swung the bat well all year and it was good to see them do that,” said Hill on Jackson and Mitchell.
Woodburn finished 1-for-3 with the three-run home run, two runs, a walk and a stolen base.
Owen Ayers and Perez were both 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run each. Owen Ayers also added a stolen base.
Notes:
The win for SCF turned out to be the 2,000th win for the program, dating back to 1959.
“It was nice to know about a couple of milestone wins this year,” said Hill on the program’s 2,000th win. “I venture to say that 2,000 wins is the most in the state at our level. I don’t there’s any other programs that has won more games than that. This is a testament to all the really good players and hall of fame coaches that were before me and it was nice these guys make their mark.”
“It was great that I got to pitch in a historical game for the program,” said Cole Ayers on the 2,000th win. “What’s even better was to be able to get that 2,000th win this group of guys.”
“I was looking at the board and just all the history that we have was so important to us to maintain that history and winning tradition that we have,” said Mitchell on the 2,000th win. “It was huge to do it with this group of guys, put it all together and win another game.”
Additionally, this was win #311 for Hill.
Other Suncoast Scores:
#15 Florida Southwestern State (37-13, 18-6 Suncoast) completed the sweep over South Florida State College (19-30, 6-18 Suncoast) winning game three 5-1.
Polk State (31-18, 15-9 Suncoast) claimed the series over Hillsborough (16-24, 8-16 Suncoast) by winning game three by a score of 4-0.
Suncoast Standings:
1. #15 FSW (37-13, 18-6)
2. SCF (32-17, 16-8)
3. Polk State (31-18, 15-9)
4. SPC (21-20, 9-15)
5. HCC (16-24, 8-16)
6. SFSC (19-3, 6-18)
Up Next:
The Manatees will wrap up Suncoast Conference play with two final series as they take on Hillsborough before finishing up regular season against #15 FSW. All three games with HCC will be on the road.
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