"I thought our guys played really well tonight," said head coach Tim Hill II. "We're playing a lot better defense. Ryan (Stefiuk) pitched an outstanding ballgame and in just that one half of an inning in the eighth is where everything went Hillsborough's way and the one mistake that we made defensively unfortunately happened in the middle of that inning, so it kind of contributed with the dropped ball in center, but the guys didn't quit and played a full nine and thanks went off in the bottom of the ninth and we needed that one for sure."
"We had Ryan on the bump and he threw outstanding," said Gilbert. "So while we were up going into the eighth inning, no one knew that they (HCC) would drop nine runs on us. We had some struggles with the pitching, but at the end of the day we walked away with the dub in the bottom of the ninth inning."
Hill sent freshman Ryan Stefiuk to the mound while HCC head coach Raydon Leaton sent sophomore Murphy Bostick to counter.
Hillsborough would strike first at the top of the first as sophomore Landen Morrison would send a lead-off homer to left for his third of the season. The Manatees however would strike back as sophomore Kevin Karstetter would send a two-run shot to left for his third of the season to bring in himself and classmate Miguel Larreal for a 2-1 SCF lead. One inning later, freshman Tayden Hall would send an RBI double to left to bring in Karstetter and extend the Manatees' lead to 3-1.
In the bottom of the third, the Hawks would make a change on the mound as sophomore Richie Cimpric would come in for Bostick. After the pitching change, Larreal would groundout to bring in Gilbert, but the offense for the Manatees didn't stop when the bottom of the fifth occurred. After Gilbert lead off with a single before moving to second, freshman Gabe Wright would then get hit by a pitch before classmate Dillon Cerone drew a walk to load the bases for Larreal as he lined a single to bring in Gilbert and Wright. After Hall drew a walk to load the bases, sophomore Owen Ayers would draw a walk and bring in Cerone for a 7-1 SCF lead.
Stefiuk remained confident on the mound. Even when facing a few tough spots, the Vanderbilt transfer was able to finish up at the end.
At the top of the eighth, Hill decided to pull Stefiuk from the game and sent sophomore Jake Jackson to the mound for relief. After loading the bases, the Hawks were able to produce more runs as sophomore Jacob Griffith would draw a walk to bring in a run. This would signal Hill to send Gilbert to the mound to try and get an out. Sophomore Juan Jamie would hit into a RBI fielder's choice to bring in the Hawks' second run of the inning before classmate Dillon Besnier would hit an RBI single before freshman Josean Sanchez drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the Manatees lead by two. The Hawks would eventually tie the game at 7-7 after a sacrifice fly by sophomore Cameron Vigh and an RBI single by classmate Mario Lopez. This would signal the end for Gilbert on the mound as Hill would send sophomore Nick Consentino head to the mound.
Eventually, the Hawks would take their first lead since the first inning thanks to RBI singles by freshman Andre Vidal and Morrison and Lopez scoring on a passed ball. Consentino was still able to get out of the eighth as the Manatees would catch Morrison trying to steal home.
After Consentino was able to pull off a strong ninth inning, the Manatees put together their chance to at least tie the game in the bottom half of the inning beginning with a lead-off single by sophomore Kyle Harbison. After Wright was hit by a pitch, Cerone would strikeout for the first out of the ninth. Larreal would load the bases after reaching on a fielding error before Karstetter sent a single to left and bring in Harbison and Wright to cut the Hawks lead to 10-9. This would signal a pitching change as sophomore Joshua Bostick would come in for relief and a save opportunity.
After the pitching change, Hall would draw a walk to load the bases before Ayers would send a sacrifice fly to right and bring in Larreal and tie the game at 10-10. After Fields drew a walk to load the bases, all eyes turned towards Gilbert to seal the deal needing only one run. On a 1-1 count, the former Ole Miss Rebel would send a shot to left for a grand slam for his first collegiate home run of the season and win the game for the Manatees.
"At the beginning of the inning when we came in, they brought in a new pitcher after we faced the previous one for three straight innings and used him straight with the fastball that kept on missing up," said Gilbert on hitting the game-winner. "While I was on-deck, I was thinking 'I'm going to stay calm, have smooth swings and get ahead on contact to let the ball do it's thing', I got the pitch and took it for a ride."
"Ben was the man of the hour with the bases loaded and two outs," said Larreal on Gilbert's game-winner. "There were fireworks at home plate for the walk-off."
"It was a good way to walk-off the game for sure since he hasn't been swinging the bat consistently lately," said Hill on Gilbert's game-winner. "He knows how to hit and I know he can hit. I thought he had much better at-bats tonight, like his first at-bat where he shot to left that was close to a hit before following with this at-bat. He definitely had a better night offensively and were kind of expecting him to play the way he supposed to."
Murphy Bostick and Stefiuk would both earn no-decisions. Murphy Bostick would give up three runs on five hits with three walks and one strikeout in two innings, while Stefiuk gave up three runs on four hits with five walks and six strikeouts in seven innings.
"I felt good out there," said Stefiuk on his game. "Today my focus in the game was to throw as many strikes as I could. Luckily, all my pitches were working and I was able to pull it off despite the no-decision."
"Ryan really set the tone for us pounding strikes," said Larreal on Stefiuk. "He helped us honestly and if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have that tone. I really wanted him to stay because he was doing so good, but it was his time and it comes down to the eighth where our pitching wasn't there and the arms weren't doing well, but we were able to get our outs."
Consentino would get the win after giving up one unearned run on three hits with two strikeouts in one and a third of relief. He is now 3-3 on the year.
Joshua Bostick would suffer his first loss of the season after giving up three runs on one hit with two walks in one third of an inning of relief. He is now 0-1 on the year.
Four Manatees had at least two RBI in the game and five had at least two hits. Gilbert and Karstetter were the offensive leaders in the game with a home run, four RBI and three runs scored each. Gilbert was 3-for-6 while Karstetter was 2-for-5 with a walk and a stolen base. Additionally, Gilbert threw two-thirds of an inning of relief, giving up four runs on three hits with one walk. Larreal was 3-for-6 with three RBI and three runs.
Hall and Harbison were each 2-for-4 at the plate. Hall added one RBI, one run and two walks, while Harbison added one walk and one run.
Ayers had the remaining hit as he went 1-for-3 with two RBI. Fields (one run and two walks), Wright (two runs and one walk) and Cerone (one run and one walk) also contributed in the game.
Morrison, Sanchez, Lopez and Besnier each had two hits for the Hawks with Morrison being the only Hawk with a multi-RBI game.
Personal Note:
Both Gilbert and Larreal transferred from Hillsborough this season, so this was almost personal for both players going against their former team. Larreal played two seasons with the Hawks, while Gilbert played one after transferring from Ole Miss.
"It was good feeling to play against my former team," said Gilbert. "I have a lot of friends on that team and I love them, but it feels good to actually beat a team I was on because they are very talented."
"I love them all to death," said Larreal. "We came out to play in a very tight game, but it feels good to come on the other side with the 'W'. They played their butts off and we know it's going to be a great series with them."
It was also the same with coach Hill with one of HCC's assistant coaches, Ryan Valdes, who played for Hill in 2014 after transferring from Florida State before transferring to USF for the next two seasons and then playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates minor leagues.
"Ryan was a good player for SCF back then and he is a good coach," said Hill on Valdes. "He's doing a good job recruiting for HCC."
Up Next:
The Manatees will remain at home as they welcome St. Pete Tuesday, March 15 for a rubber match.
No comments:
Post a Comment