"I think what we're seeing is two different teams," said head coach Mandy Schuerman. "Game one, our team came out really strong and fought every inning and we were very aggressive when we needed to be. Of course we still made mistakes, but we were able to come back from them. Game two was a different story for sure and we knew that Central Florida is a very strong team and our well-coached. They were going to come out really tough at making adjustments and they did and we didn't and that was the result of game two."
"It felt good to play at home," said Schuerman on the home opener. "I don't know who makes the decisions on picking the number three team in the state to play, but it's good for us to play teams like CCF. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best and we're going to continue playing a tough schedule against tough teams, but I think having that home field advantage is very helpful for us at times."
Game One:
For game one, Schuerman sent sophomore Samantha Hampton to the mound, while CCF head coach Mike Lingle went with freshman Emily Proctor.
At the top of the first, the Lady Patriots would get on the board first off of a Manatees fielding error, an RBI groundout by freshman Katie Hogue and an RBI single by classmate Alyssa Adams for a 3-0 CCF lead. The Manatees would respond to not get shutout as sophomore Mya Achenbach would send a solo homer to center for her first of the season and set the score to 3-1 still in CCF's favor.
In the bottom of the second, the Manatees continued fighting to stay alive. After back-to-back walks were drawn by sophomore Remi Hebert and Achenbach, freshman Olivia Siebert would send a double to center and bring Hebert and Achenbach to tie the game at 3-3.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Manatees would get their first lead. After back-to-back singles by sophomores Gracie Mullett and Tori Copeland and freshman Rylee Trice got hit by a pitch to load the bases, Lingle would pull Proctor and send freshman Katie Pierce to pitch to the mound for relief work.
After the pitching change, sophomore Alli Bloski would send a single to right to bring in Mullett and Copeland and give the Manatees the lead. Freshman Presley O'Kimosh would send a sacrifice fly to left and bring in Trice to for a 6-3 SCF lead.
"I just did what needed to be done," said Bloski on the hit. "I saw that I had the opportunity, so I took advantage of it and scored some runs and got us on top."
At the top of the fifth, the Lady Patriots would cut the Manatees lead to 6-5 thanks to an RBI triple by freshman Brooke Roberts and another RBI single by Hogue.
At the top of the sixth, Hampton was starting to struggle after a fielding error and hitting a batter with a pitch, but a strikeout and two big defensive groundouts.
The Lady Patriots would try to get one final gasp of life to at least tie the game, but with Hampton calm, cool and collected, the Lithia native was able to get the final strikeout for the win.
Hampton would get the win after throwing a complete game, giving up all five runs on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts. She is now 3-0 this season.
Proctor would fall to 2-1 after giving up all six runs on four hits with four walks and two strikeouts. Pierce would throw four scoreless innings of relief, giving up one hit and striking out two.
Bloski would be the hero for game after going 1-for-3 with two RBI. Siebert would also go 1-for-3 with two RBI.
Achenbach (1-for-3, one home run, two runs), Mullett (1-for-3, one run) and Copeland (1-for-3, one run) had the remaining Manatee hits. O'Kimosh (one RBI) and Hebert (one run) also contributed in game one.
For the Lady Patriots, Roberts was the only player that had a multi-hit game as she went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Hogue would be the only player to get a multi-RBI game as she went 1-for-4 with two RBI.
Game Two:
Schuerman would send Hebert to the mound, while Lingle went with sophomore Savannah Barnett to counter.
After Hebert gave up four runs on three straight RBI doubles and an RBI single, Schuerman would make multiple defensive switches as she sent Hebert from the mound to first, Mullett from shortstop to the pitcher, O'Kimosh would move from catcher to second base, freshman Chantel Schurr would move from second to short and freshman Gabi Nicholson would move from first to catcher.
After the switch, the Lady Patriots would get another run on a suicide squeeze before the Manatees got out of the top of the first. The Lady Patriots would add four more runs at the top of the fifth to invoke the mercy rule before claiming the game.
Barnett would get the win after throwing a five inning no-hitter with one walk and nine strikeouts. She is now 3-2 on the year.
Hebert would fall to 1-1 after giving up five runs (four earned) on four hits in no innings pitched. Mullett would give up four runs on five hits with two strikeouts in five innings of relief.
Personal Opinion:
The Lady Patriots dawned new alternative uniforms for the games in the colors of black, white and blue. By the appearance, they were the same colors as the flag of the Blue Lives Matter countermovement.
Personally, I was not a fan of their uniforms because of several reasons and they looked very controversial.
Notes:
This was the first in-person interviews I did with coach Schuerman and Bloski for the 2022 season. Bloski is the first player I did an in-person interview with this season, while it was the first in-person postgame interview with Schuerman since the 2020 season.
Suncoast Scores:
#1 FSW (12-1) swept former Suncoast Conference member South Florida State College (2-4) 14-0 and 12-1 via the mercy rule. The Buccaneers will return home as they welcome Eastern Florida State for a doubleheader Wednesday, February 16.
St. Pete (4-6) would fall to Santa Fe (8-4) by scores of 2-1 and 15-0 (5). The Lady Titans will face #13 CCF for a doubleheader Saturday, February 12.
Hillsborough (3-6) split their doubleheader last Saturday against Daytona State (3-12) winning game one 6-3 before losing game two 12-8. The Lady Hawks will take on Miami Dade on the road for a doubleheader Saturday, February 12.
Polk State (2-2) swept their doubleheader against Daytona State by scores of 6-1 and 8-7. The Lady Eagles will welcome Lake Sumter State (7-3) Friday, February 11.
Suncoast Stadnings:
1. #1 FSW (12-1
2. SCF (7-3)
3. Polk State (2-2)
4. HCC (3-6)
5. SPC (4-6)
Up Next:
The Manatees will be on the road for the next six games as they will first travel to Gainesville to take on Santa Fe (8-4) Tuesday
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