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| PC by Codi Bressler |
Bradenton, Fla - Freshman Gabe Wright's walk-off hit helped lead the SCF baseball team (20-17, 5-7 Suncoast) to a 8-7 win over Hillsborough (14-21, 5-10 Suncoast) and their first sweep in Suncoast Conference play.
"This game wasn't pretty, but the guys did bounce back," said head coach Tim Hill II. "We were down early and I thought they showed a lot of fight and heart out there."
"I thought HCC got on us quick, but we just bounced back and stayed resilient with good 'ABs' the rest of the game," said sophomore Nick Gotilla. "The energy was a lot better than it has been recently, so it was always good to get the win."
"After having to make it up two times, we finally got to finish this series," said Wright. "This week starts the second half of conference games, so it felt really good to start the week off with a sweep in this series after a disappointing start to conference, so this gives us some confidence and a little boost going into the series with Polk tomorrow."
"It's always good to get a 'W', especially when it's at home," said sophomore Brandon Fields. "I was happy to see Nick Gotilla come out with nothing but strikes and dominating early all the way to the end of the game. I was happy to see we were really battle-tested, even though we have been kind of shaky throughout the season, but we are everything but battle-tested and then some, so I was happy to see Gabe Wright come in clutch at the end with the walk-off single."
Hill sent sophomore Nick Cosentino to the mound to start for the Manatees while HCC head coach Raydon Leaton sent freshman Chase Jackson to counter.
At the top of the first, the Hawks would strike early. After Consentino got the first two outs, befroe giving up a hit and a walk freshman Jayson Yaccarino would hit an RBI single before classmate Josean Sanchez hit a two-RBI double for a 3-0 lead. One inning later, they would increase it to 4-0 after an RBI single from sophomore Jacob Griffith before Consentino struck out his final batter.
In the bottom of the second, the Manatees would get on the board beginning with a lead-off triple off the bat of Fields before freshman Lucas Ismali brought him in with a sacrifice fly. After sophomore Kyle Harbison reached second on an error and advanced to third one batter later, sophomore Miguel Larreal would send Harbison home with an RBI single and cut the deficit to 4-2, still in favor of HCC.
At the top of the third, Hill had already made a pitching change as he sent sophomore Nick Gotilla to the mound. However, the Hawks would extend their lead to 5-2 thanks to a sacrifice fly, but the transfer from UCF would remain calm and get out of the inning.
In the bottom of the third, the Manatees would eventually tie the game. After back-to-back singles off the bats of sophomores Kevin Karstetter and Harrison Long, before classmate Owen Ayers reached on a fielder's choice with Long being called out at second, Karstetter would do an unthinkable moment as the upcoming Houston transfer would steal home. After Ismali drew a walk with two outs, Leaton would pull Jackson from the game and send sophomore Austin Teel to the mound for relief work.
After the pitching change, Harbison hit a single to center to bring in Ayers before sophomore Jake Jackson drew a walk and Ismali tied the game at 5-5 after scoring on a wild pitch to end the third.
The Hawks would take back the lead at the top of the fourth after an RBI single by Griffith and an RBI groundout Yaccarino made it 7-5 HCC. Despite that, Gotilla kept calm and got out of the inning.
The Manatees would cut the Hawks' lead by one as Karstetter would bring in Larreal on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the sixth. Two innings later, the Manatees would tie the game at 7-7 after an RBI groundout by Long brought in Larreal. The Manatees would try and take the lead as Ayers attempted a sacrifice fly to bring in freshman Tayden Hall, but it would not be the case as Karstetter was called out trying to advance to third.
After Gotilla got two strikeouts at the top of the ninth, the Manatees wanted to end the first series once and for all. As Fields lead the inning with a walk, he was able to take advantage of a passed ball as he was safe at second before moving to third on a throwing error from sophomore Mario Lopez.
All eyes turned towards Wright and his opportunity for a win and on a full count, the Indianapolis native would send a deep fly ball to left that hit the warning track and brought Fields in for the win and the sweep.
"I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit and drive it into play to the gaps to help my team out and knock me in," said Fields on getting on for the game-winner. "We had a passed ball get past the catcher and I was kind of jonesing* for one of those in the dirt so I can get going while I was sniffing second and third base. I got to second base and was trying to bait the catcher since he like snap-throwing the ball and he fell right into the Venus Flytrap and he ended up throwing it over the shortstop's head and I took advantage of it."
*jonesing: when someone is craving for someone or something.
"It feels great to hit the game-winner anytime," said Wright on hitting the game-winner. "What was going through my head honestly was after that I wouldn't have been able to do it if Brandon (Fields) didn't get on and it probably would be a double or triple for me. My teammates really helped me on this one even if I didn't start the game. My parents told me that no matter what I'm doing, just always stay ready because you never know when your time is going to come to do something like that in the end."
While I ended up walking, when Gabe (Wright) came up, I knew he was going to do something and get it into the outfield or get a sacrifice bunt," said Fields on Wright hitting the game-winner. "I was really happy to see Gabe battle through that whole at-bat."
"I'm really happy for Gabe," said Hill on Wright. "He was off to a slow start, but he was swinging the bat better lately and he's a nice kid. He works really hard and is a good athlete, so I'm happy for him to get the game-winning hit and he deserved it."
Both Cosentino and Chase Jackson earned no-decisions for the game. Consentino gave up four runs on five hits with one walk and two strikeouts in two innings, while Chase Jackson gave up five runs (four earned) on four hits with two walks in two innings.
Gotilla would move to 7-2 on the year after giving up three runs on five hits with three walks and six strikeouts in seven innings of relief.
"Coming out of the pen, I didn't have my best stuff to start," said Gotilla on his game. "They got on me pretty good with a few runs, so I dialed in and just got back to tightening up what I needed to do."
"I thought Nick Gotilla really picked it up for us in the middle innings towards the end after putting up a ton of zeros to give us a chance and I thought he was the story of the game," said Hill on Gotilla.
Sophomore Richie Cimpric would fall to 2-3 after giving up one unearned run on one hit with two walks in one inning of relief, while Teel gave up two runs on four hits with six walks and seven strikeouts in four and a third innings of relief.
Harbison was the only Manatee with a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Larreal (1-for-3, two runs and three walks), Karstetter (1-for-3, one run, two walks and two stolen bases), Long (1-for-3), Ismali (1-for-1, two walks and one run) and Wright (1-for-1) had one hit and one RBI each.
Fields (1-for-4, two runs) and Hall (1-for-4, one walk) had the remaining hits, while Ayers (one run) and Jake Jackson (one walk) contributed in the game.
For the Hawks, Yaccarino lead the way in hits as he went 3-for-5 with two RBI, while Griffith (two RBI) and sophomore Dillon Besnier (one run) were each 2-for-5.
Sanchez lead the way in offense as he went 1-for-3 with three RBI, while sophomore Landon Morrison (1-for-5, one run) and freshman Andre Vidal (1-for-4, one run) had the remaining two hits for the Hawks.
Suncoast Standings:
1. #9 FSW (25-12, 12-3
2. Polk State (23-12, 10-5)
3. SCF (20-17, 5-7)
4. HCC (14-21, 5-10)
5. SPC (14-19, 4-11)
Up Next:
The Manatees return to action still at home as they ready for their second series with Polk State (23-12, 10-5). Sophomore Jake Jackson will be given the nod to start game one on Wednesday night, March 30 at 6 pm. Game two and three will be determined by Hill and the staff
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