SCF Baseball Players Sign in the MLB

Bradenton, Fla - Two players from the SCF baseball team have officially made their decisions to continue their baseball careers at the professional level for Major League Baseball (MLB). Those two players that will make their dreams come true are pitchers Michael Forret (2023) and Tony Rossi (2020-21).

Forret was selected in the 14th round (pick 421) of the draft by the Baltimore Orioles and signed with them for $450,000. The Orioles are currently in first place in the American League East Division with a two and a half game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Originally committed to East Carolina, the native of Indian Trail, North Carolina finished his lone season with the Manatees 10-3 with a 3.34 ERA, one save, 18 walks and 106 strikeouts. He was named the Suncoast Conference Pitcher of the Year and a member of the All-Suncoast First Team after going 4-0 in conference play before winning the FCSAA Pitcher of the Year and being named a member of the All-NJCAA Region 8 First Team. Forret's 10 wins and 106 strikeouts were ranked tied for #16 in the nation, while his number of innings pitched (86.1) ranked #10 in the nation.

Despite not playing in the 2023 season, Rossi, who was not drafted in this year's MLB Draft, signed a free agent deal with the San Francisco Giants. The Giants are currently tied for second place in National League West with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

A native of Lake Mary, Florida, Rossi began his collegiate baseball career at the University of West Florida (NCAA DII) in 2019. There, he went 5-3 with a 5.26 ERA, 32 walks and 40 strikeouts in 51.1 innings pitched for the Argonauts where he was named the Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Year. 

He then transferred to SCF where played two seasons and finished 5-3 overall with a 5.37 ERA, 40 walks and 91 strikeouts in 68.2 innings before transferring to the University of North Carolina - Charlotte with fellow SCF alum Nick Cosentino (2021-22) where he went 5-1 with a 4.57 ERA, one save, 20 walks and 48 strikeouts during the 2022 season with the 49ers.

We wish both Michael and Tony the best on their journeys in the MLB.

SCF Returns Home for SJR

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF baseball team (12-7) return home for a three-game series at Robert Wynn Field. The Manatees will welcome St. John’s River State (11-7) Friday night, February 26 at 6 pm for game one before playing a doubleheader Saturday afternoon, February 27 at 1 and 4 pm*. This will be the last series before Suncoast Conference play.

*Time for game three is the not officially time

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of a split with Eastern Florida State in a one-and-one series. They defeated the Titans at Wynn Field on Monday by a score of 21-0 in seven innings for game one but lost game two by a score of 8-5.

Sailor Power:

The duo of sophomore Owen Ayers and freshman Harrison Long have the benefactors for the Mantees at the top of the order:

Ayers is batting .361 with four home runs and 18 RBI. He went 4-for-6 in the series against EFSC with five RBI. Ayers was pulled out of the game on the road after suffering a sprained ankle.

Long is batting .364 with four home runs and 22 RBI. He finished the series 3-for-8 with a home run and five RBI.

Jack on the Attack:

Sophomore Jack Anderson got back in his groove at the plate. Anderson is batting .310 with two home runs and 13 RBI. Anderson finished the series against EFSC 4-for-7 with a home run and four RBI.

On the mound, sophomore Daniel Batcher is currently 2-1 with a 3.57 ERA and 23 strikeouts. In his last game, Batcher threw a shutout in a doubleheader series against Tallahassee CC.

From a relief standpoint, sophomores Matt Gelorme and Clay Callan and freshmen Eli Thurmond and Dylan Vega play vital roles.

Although he has no win, Gelorme has one save with a 1.54 ERA and 11 strikeouts.

Callan is currently 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA, one save and 13 strikeouts. Callan earned the win in his last appearance against Tallahassee with two strikeouts in one and a third.

Vega is currently 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA and six strikeouts. He had one strikeout in one and two-third innings of relief in the 21-0 win over EFSC.

Wild Cards:

Sophomore Jakob Mattos, Tucker Mitchell and Rook Ellington and freshmen Kevin Karstetter and Brayden Woodburn are the wild card players for the Manatees.

While he is throwing a 4.50 ERA with 14 strikeouts, Mattos had one of his best outings against EFSC as he earned his first win after throwing five and a third with six strikeouts. In fact, he almost had a no-hitter until it was broken in the sixth inning.
Despite going 1-for-4 with three walks and four runs scored, Mitchell is batting .341 with seven RBI.
While battling injury, Ellington is still batting .200 with a home run and four RBI.
Despite going 1-for-8 with two runs scored, Karstetter is still batting .242 with a home run and 14 RBI.
Woodburn went 3-for-5 with a home run and six RBI. He is currently batting .207 with two home runs and 11 RBI.
New Debut:The Manatees saw another new player make their debut. Aidan Gallagher, a native of Naunet, New York, joined the team after transferring from Rockland Community College in Ramapo, New York. He made his in-game debut in the home game against EFSC going 1-for-1 with two RBI and a walk.
Scouting St. John’s River State:The Vikings are coming off of a 10-1 road win over South Georgia State College.
On the mound, sophomore Jason Gonzalez and freshman Dawson Gause are both 3-0 on the season. Gonzalez is throwing a team-low 0.45 ERA with 26 strikeouts, while Gause is throwing a 1.42 ERA with a team-leading 27 strikeouts.
At the plate, freshman Tripp McKinlay is leading the Vikings offense batting .293 with three home runs and 13 RBI while classmate Kyle Smith is batting a team-leading .413 with two home runs and 11 RBI.
Series History:Overall, the Manatees are 2-1 against the Vikings.
GameChanger Link: https://gc.com/t/spring-2021/state-college-of-florida-baseball-21-6006c9046d2f825a1c98e005

Livestream Link: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/scf/#live

SCF Baseball Wraps Up Suncoast Play

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF baseball team (32-17, 16-8 Suncoast) will wrap up the regular season with the final two series of Suncoast Conference play. The Manatees will first play Hillsborough (16-24, 8-16 Suncoast) before finalizing the regular season with the final three-game series against #15 Florida Southwestern State (37-13, 18-6 Suncoast).

All three games against HCC will start at 3 pm and take place at George M. Steinbrenner Field Monday, April 19, Wednesday, April 21 and Friday, April 23.

For the series against FSW, game one will take place at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers Saturday afternoon, April 24 at 1 pm. Game two will then return to Robert C. Wynn Field Monday night, April 26 at 6 pm before returning to City of Palms Park Wednesday afternoon, April 28 at 3 pm. Game two will be the last home game of the season for the Manatees.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees recently wrapped up their second series with St. Pete College with a sweep over them. The Manatees won by scores of 10-6, 15-4 and 10-3. Evidently, SCF defeated the Titans 5-1 in the series.

2,000 Club:

In the series finale against SPC, the Manatees claimed a new milestone to their program as they earned their 2,000th win in their program’s history, dating back to 1959. Arguably, they are the first junior college in the state reach 2,000 wins as a single program.

Wolf Pack Power:

Sophomore Tucker Mitchell is one of the top sources leading the power and contact for the Manatees. Mitchell is currently batting .378 with six home runs and a team-leading 50 RBI. Against SPC, the NC State commit was 6-for-14 with two home runs and seven RBI in the second series and was 9-for-32 overall with two home runs and 11 RBI. In fact, all six of his home runs were in Suncoast play.

Jake the Rake:

Freshman Jake Jackson has also been on a hot streak at the plate as he is on an eight-game hitting streak. Jackson is batting a team-leading .385 with two home runs and 27 RBI. Against SPC, he was 5-for-10 with a home run and two RBI in the second series and 10-for-25 overall with one home run and five RBI.

Steel City Smackdown:

Although he had a brief cold spell in some of his games, sophomore Jack Anderson still plays a big role at the plate. Anderson is currently batting .337 with five home runs and 38 RBI. The Pittsburgh commit finished the second series against SPC 3-for-9 with four RBI and 8-for-21 with six RBI overall.

Start Your Engines:

Freshman Kevin Karstetter has been playing well for his first year with the Manatees. Karstetter is currently batting .313 with three home runs and 45 RBI. Karstetter finished the second series with SPC 4-for-10 with five RBI and finished 10-for-23 with 10 RBI.

Anchors Aweigh:

Like Jackson, sophomore Owen Ayers has been on a roll at the plate as he is also on a eight-game hitting streak. Ayers is currently batting .293 with seven home runs, 39 RBI and nine stolen bases. Against SPC in the second series, Ayers finished 3-for-11 with three RBI and three stolen bases and overall finished 8-for-24 with a home run, seven RBI and three stolen bases.

Pitcher Pride:

Sophomores Cole Ayers and Daniel Batcher have been the keys to the starting rotation.

Ayers had one of his better starts against SPC where he threw eight innings with seven strikeouts. Currently, the upcoming Cincinnati transfer is 4-1 with a 4.97 ERA and 47 strikeouts.

Batcher threw seven innings with seven strikeouts in his last start against SPC. Currently,  he is 7-3 with a 2.51 ERA and 67 strikeouts. Batcher will start game three against HCC.

Wild Card Factors:

Sophomores David Barrett, AJ Fritz and Matt Gelorme and freshmen Brayden Woodburn and Eli Thurmond.

The lead veteran reliever, Barrett is currently 4-4 with a 2.43 ERA, 61 strikeouts and two saves. He recently committed to Florida State University.

After returning from injury, Fritz is batting .263 with a home run and 13 RBI.

The third starter on the team, Gelorme is currently 3-1 with a 4.25 ERA and 54 strikeouts. Gelorme will start game one against HCC.

Woodburn has played a much more stronger role from being in the starting lineup as he is currently batting .312 with four home runs and 37 RBI. Against SPC in the second series, Woodburn went 6-for-11 with a home run and seven RBI. Overall against SPC, he went 9-for-21 with a home run and nine RBI.

Bouncing between starting and relief, Thurmond is 4-1 with a 3.21 ERA, three saves and 44 strikeouts.

Scouting HCC:

The Hawks are coming off of losing the second series to Polk State, winning game one 11-3 before losing games two and three by scores of 14-8 and 4-0.

Sophomore Alex Cordero still leads the Hawks offense after batting .310 with 13 home runs and 36 RBI, while Hunter Fitzgerald follows batting .279 with seven home runs and 24 RBI. Fitzgerald will be committing to Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) next season.

On the mound, freshman Michael Schuler is the leader for the Hawks as he is 5-3 with a 4.33 ERA and 51 strikeouts.

Scouting FSW:

The Buccaneers, who are ranked #15 in the nation, are coming off of sweeping South Florida State College by scores of 5-2, 5-1 and 5-1.

Redshirt sophomore Christian Lucio leads the Buccaneers batting .348 with 11 home runs and 44 RBI. Freshman Abimelec Ortiz follows along with nine home runs and 43 RBI while batting .356.

The freshman duo of Alex Ayala Jr and Carlos Rodriguez are both 7-2 on the mound. Ayala Jr has a 3.02 ERA, one save and 78 strikeouts, while Rodriguez is throwing a 2.14 ERA and 62 strikeouts.

Sophomore Antonio Knowles is the Buccaneers lead closer with 11 saves while going 1-1 with a 0.94 ERA and 50 strikeouts.

Series History:

Overall the Manatees are 42-20 against the Hawks and 19-8 against the Buccaneers. They claimed the series against HCC winning two game to one, but loss the series two games to one to FSW.

Livestats will be provided for all six games. In the series against FSW, games one and three will air on the FSW Athletics website while game two will air on the SCF Sports Network.

Livestats Link:

https://gc.com/t/spring-2021/state-college-of-florida-baseball-21-6006c9046d2f825a1c98e005

Livestream Link:
Games One and Three - https://www.fswbucs.com/fswbucslive
Game Two - https://www.scfmanatees.com/fan_zone/SCF_Sports_Network

SCF Baseball Hits 2,000 Wins

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF baseball team (32-17, 16-8 Suncoast) made a historical moment at Robert C. Wynn Field Saturday afternoon as they defeated St. Pete (21-20, 9-15 Suncoast) 10-3 to claim the sweep. With the win, the Manatees not only are 37-14 against the Titans, but have earned their 2,000th win in their program history.

“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.

SCF Baseball Takes Second Series Over SPC

Clearwater, Fla - The SCF baseball team (31-17, 15-8 Suncoast) were able to claim their second series of the second half of Suncoast Conference play as they defeated St. Pete (21-19, 9-14 Suncoast) by a score of 15-4 in eight innings via mercy rule at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater. With the win, the Manatees are now 36-14 against the Titans while claiming the series.

“It was a great team win tonight,” said head coach Tim Hill II.

For the second game of the series, Hill sent sophomore Daniel Batcher to the mound while SPC head coach Ryan Beckman went with freshman Channing Young.

After the first two innings went scoreless, the Manatees took it to the scoreboard first at the top of the third. After sophomore Rook Ellington lead off the inning with a single, classmate Tucker Mitchell would send a towering two-run homer to left for his fifth of the season.

After freshman Jake Jackson hit a double and sophomore Owen Ayers drew a walk, freshman Kevin Karstetter sent a single to right to bring in Jackson for a 3-0 SCF lead.

The Titans would get their first run of the game as freshman Gabriel Rincones hit an RBI single. The Manatees would respond back and extend their lead at the top of the fourth beginning with a lead off single by freshman Harrison Long. After freshman Joel Perez was hit by a pitch and Mitchell hit a single to load the bases, Jackson would send a sacrifice fly to center to bring in Long before Ayers followed with an RBI single to center to bring in Perez.

Sophomore Jack Anderson would then load the bases before Karstetter drew a walk of his own to bring in Mitchell. Freshman Brayden Woodburn would hit a single and bring in Ayers to make it 7-1 SCF before the end of the inning.

Freshman Carlos Castillo would then hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth for the Titans, but it made the Manatees offense hit harder at the top of the sixth. After Jackson lead off the inning with a single with Ayers following with a walk, Karstetter would send a pop single to bring in Jackson before Woodburn sent a sacrifice fly to right to bring in Ayers for a 9-2 SCF lead.

At the top of the eighth, the Manatees continued to send SPC a message with their offense. After Jackson and Ayers drew back-to-back walks and Anderson hit a single to load the bases, Karstetter would send a single of his own and bring in Jackson for the 10th run of the game. Woodburn and Long would then draw back-to-back bases loaded walks to bring in Ayers and Anderson to invoke the the mercy rule in effect before Ellington sent a infield single to bring in Karstetter. With the bases still loaded, Mitchell decided to add one more final touch as he sent a double to right and bring in Woodburn and Long and make it 15-2 SCF.

Sophomore Clay Callan would then come in for Batcher and give up a two-run home run by freshman Colton Olasin for his first of the season, but it was all the Titans could produce as the Manatees pulled away with the win.

“The team did great,” said Batcher on the win. “We hit the ball well, played great defense and just overall had a great game.”

“It felt great to win the series,” said Karstetter. “The job is not done yet though as we’re aiming for the sweep Saturday.”

Batcher would earn his seventh win of the season after giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts in seven innings. He is now 7-3 on the year.

“I felt great out there,” said Batcher on his game. “I had command of all my pitches, including my changeup. I was ahead in all the counts and threw strikes. It was overall a great outing.”

“Daniel threw very well tonight,” said Hill on Batcher. “He was in control the entire time and set the tone for the game.”

Callan threw one inning of relief, giving up two runs on two hits with one walk and one strikeout.

Young would fall to 3-4 after giving up seven runs on eight hits with three walks and one strikeout in three and two-thirds.

Five players had a multi-hit game. Mitchell and Karstetter both had three hits and four RBI each. Mitchell (3-for-6) added a home run, while Karstetter added a walk.

“I felt good in the box and looked to help my team any way I could” said Mitchell. “I made sure to tell (Daniel) Batcher that I was going to get him some runs tonight because he was shutting them (SPC) down on the defensive side.”

“I was seeing the ball well,” said Karstetter on his game. “It’s always nice to get multiple hits, but I think more importantly multiple RBI is what really matters.”

“Tucker and Kevin both did a great job tonight,” said Hill on Mitchell and Karstetter. “They both had some good at-bats and it showed.”

Jackson (2-for-3, one RBI, one walk and three runs), Woodburn (2-for-3, three RBI, one walk) and Ellington (2-for-5, one RBI) each had two hits and at least one RBI.

Ayers (1-for-3, one RBI, three runs, three walks and one stolen base), Anderson (1-for-4, one run, one walk) and Long (1-for-4, one RBI, two runs and a walk) had the remaining three hits.

For the Titans, Rincones, Olasin and freshman Ben Maskin each had two hits.

Notes:

This was program win #1,999. The team needs one more to reach 2,000 wins in their program.

“I think we’re going to be the first Juco program in Florida to get 2,000 wins,” said Hill. “We had a lot of great players, coaches and teams over the last 60 plus years and I am very proud of our rich baseball tradition.”

This was win #310 for Hill.

Other Suncoast Scores:

#15 Florida Southwestern State (36-13, 17-6 Suncoast) defeated South Florida State College (19-28, 6-17 Suncoast) 5-2.

Polk State (30-18, 14-9 Suncoast) defeated Hillsborough (16-23, 8-15 Suncoast) 14-8.

Suncoast Standings:

1. #15 FSW (36-13, 17-6)

2. SCF (31-17, 15-8)

3. Polk State (30-8, 14-9)

4. SPC (21-19, 9-14)

5. HCC (16-23, 8-15)

6. SFSC (19-28, 6-17)

Up Next:

The Manatees will look to go for the sweep over SPC as they return home to Wynn Field Saturday afternoon, April 17 at 1 pm. Sophomore Cole Ayers will be given the nod to start the game.

SCF Baseball Takes Game One Over SPC in Second Series

Bradenton, Fla - Sophomore Jack Anderson played the hero for the game as the SCF baseball team (30-17, 14-8 Suncoast) pulled together a strong eighth inning rally to defeat St. Pete College (21-18, 9-13 Suncoast) 10-6 at Wynn Field. With the win, the Manatees are now 35-14 against the Titans.

“This team has been through so much adversity this year,” said head coach Tim Hill II. “We have seen a lot of different things happen, but we continue to try and stress them to play hard for the entire game. Good teams finish strong in the last three innings and that’s what we’re trying to do, so scoring seven runs in the seventh and eighth was really big tonight.”

Hill sent sophomore Matt Gelorme to the mound, while SPC head coach Ryan Beckman sent redshirt sophomore Gabriel Partridge to counter.

The Titans would be the first to score at the top of the first four runs thanks to two two-RBI doubles by sophomore Christian Rivera and freshman Ben Maskin.

The Manatees would then get their first two runs on the board in the bottom of the second. After a lead-off walk by Anderson and back-to-back singles by freshmen Kevin Karstetter and Brayden Woodburn to load the bases, freshman Joel Perez would send a double to center to bring in Anderson and Karstetter. Sophomore Rook Ellington would then groundout to bring in Woodburn and cut the lead to 4-3.

The Titans would extend the lead to 5-3 after an RBI groundout by sophomore Jonathan Alonso at the top of the third.

At the top of the fifth, with one out, Hill decided to pull Gelorme and send freshman Eli Thurmond to the mound to finish the inning in success.

At the top of the sixth, the Titans would make it 6-3 thanks to a bases loaded walk by freshman Gabriel Rincones. Thurmond still remained confident as he was able to get out of the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Manatees attempted to cut the deficit again starting with a lead-off double by freshman Jake Jackson. After Jackson advanced to third on fielding error, Anderson would send a single to right and bring in Jackson. Woodburn would then send a hard double to center and bring in Anderson to cut the Titans lead to 6-5.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Manatees decided to put together a rally to get the lead. After Ellington and freshman Harrison Long hit back-to-back singles and sophomore Tucker Mitchell drew a walk to load the bases, sophomore AJ Fritz would come in to pinch hit for Jackson and draw a walk to bring in Ellington and tie the game at 6-6. Sophomore Owen Ayers would then give the Manatees their first lead of the game with a single to bring in classmate Cameron Lee, who pinch ran for Long. The offensive eyes turned to Anderson as the upcoming Pittsburgh transfer would send a double to right and bring in Mitchell and Fritz before Karstetter sent a sacrifice fly to center to bring in Ayers for a 10-6 SCF lead.

Sophomore Tony Rossi would then close the door at the top of the ninth and seal the win for the Manatees.

“It was a big win for the guys after coming off a tough loss to Polk State,” said Anderson. “We’re going to use this game as a motivation to close out these last eight games the right way.”

“This win was huge,” said Thurmond. “Not only did we need the win for our record, but we were hungry to dominate someone again. It helps set up the series on the right foot.”

Gelorme and Partridge would earn no-decisions. Gelorme gave up five runs on three hits with five walks and two strikeouts in three and two-thirds, while Partridge gave up three runs on three hits with two walks in one and two-thirds.

Thurmond would earn his fourth win of the season after giving up one unearned run on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts in four and a third innings of relief. He is now 4-1 on the year.

“My last outing was a rough one and my teammates were able to pick me up,” said Thurmond. “I was able to return the favor tonight, so that felt good.”

“Eli came in and pretty much held S. Pete scoreless the rest of the way,” said Hill on Thurmond. “While he did give up an unearned run from a misplayed double play ball, he pulled through strongly.”

Rossi threw a scoreless inning of relief with three strikeouts.

Sophomore Chris Brucks would fall to 1-3 with the loss after giving up three runs on two hits with one walk in no inning of relief.

Three batters had a multi-hit game. Woodburn lead the Manatees in hitting as he went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.

Anderson went 2-for-3 with three RBI, two runs and two walks.

“When I got walked the first two appearances, I felt like it helped me settle in and I saw the ball well tonight,” said Anderson on his game. “It was a great feeling getting those runs across for the team in those last two innings.”

Long was the third batter with a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-2.

Jackson (1-for-3, one run), Ayers (1-for-4, one RBI, one run and one stolen base), Karstetter (1-for-4, one RBI and one run scored), Perez (1-for-4, two RBI) and Ellington (1-for-3, one RBI and one run) had the remaining five hits for the Manatees.

For the Titans, Freshman El Rico Riley was the player on the team with a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-4 with two runs. Rivera and Maskins both had two RBI.

Notes:

This was win #1,998 for the Manatees. They are two away from reach 2,000 wins in their program, which dates back to 1959.

“This program has been used to winning since day one,” said Hill on nearing the milestone. “2,000 wins would be a record for the state. It’s a testament to the two hall of fame coaches before me and the hundreds of top level players that this program has had every year.”

This was win #309 for Hill.

It was announced via Instagram that sophomore relief pitcher David Barrett will continue his collegiate baseball career at Florida State University. Barrett becomes the fifth Manatee to commit to the NCAA University level and the third to join a Power 5 Conference school (Anderson: Pittsburgh; Mitchell: NC State; Rossi: Louisiana-Lafayette; Cole Ayers: Cincinnati).

Other Suncoast Scores:

#15 Florida Southwestern State (35-13, 16-6 Suncoast) defeated South Florida State College (19-27, 6-16 Suncoast) 5-2.

Hillsborough (16-22, 8-14 Suncoast) defeated Polk State (29-18, 13-9 Suncoast) 11-3.

Suncoast Standings:

1. #15 FSW (35-13, 16-6)

2. SCF (30-17, 14-8)

3. Polk State (29-18, 13-9)

4. SPC (Robinson 21-18, 9-13)

5. HCC (16-22, 8-14)

SFSC (19-27, 6-16)

Up Next:

The Manatees will be on the road for game two against SPC at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater. Sophomore Daniel Batcher will be given the nod to start the game.

SCF Baseball Opens Second Half Win in Suncoast

Avon Park, Fla - The RV SCF baseball team (27-14, 11-5 Suncoast) opened the second half of Suncoast Conference play in success as they defeated South Florida State College (16-24, 3-13 Suncoast) 5-3. With the win, the Manatees are now 40-16 against the Panthers.

“It always feels nice to start off the series and second half of conference with a win,” said head coach Tim Hill II. “It was a hard fought game. We got down early right in the first inning, but we battled back to get a nice win on the road. It wasn’t the prettiest win, but we will take it.”

Hill sent sophomore Matt Gelorme to the mound, while SFSC head coach Rick Hitt sent freshman Myles Caba to counter.

At the bottom of the first, the Panthers would get on the board first after a two-RBI single by freshman Zeddric Burnham and a sacrifice fly by sophomore Hunter Wilde to make it 3-0 SFSC.

At the top of the third, sophomore Tucker Mitchell would cut the Panthers lead to 3-2 after hitting a two-run homer to left to bring himself and freshman Brayden Woodburn. It was Mitchell’s third home fun of the season.

“I was able to come up in an advantage count to put a good swing on a fastball and saw the ball well,” said Mitchell on his home run.

At the top of the fifth, the Manatees were able to put a rally together. Woodburn and freshman Joel Perez drew walks and sophomore Rook Ellington hit a single to load the bases for Mitchell to start the inning. On a full count, the upcoming NC State commit would get hit by a pitch and bring in Woodburn to tie the game at 3-3. Sophomore Owen Ayers would then send a sacrifice fly to center and bring in in Perez and Ellington to give the Manatees a 5-3 lead.

From there, sophomore David Barrett came in for Gelorme and breezez through the next three innings before classmate Tony Rossi, despite loading the bases, closed the door to give the Manatees a the win.
“This win was huge for us to start off the second half of conference on the right track,” said Mitchell on the win. “We’re going to see them two more times and we’re excited to continue on the track that we’re on.”

Gelorme would move to 3-0 after giving up all three runs on six hits with theee walks and five strikeouts in five innings.

“Matt got off to a slow start giving up three in the first inning,” said Hill on Gelorme’s start. “Nevertheless, he kept us in the ball game.”

Barrett threw three scoreless innings of relief with two walks and five strikeouts.
Rossi earned his first save of the season after throwing one scoreless inning of relief with one walk.

“David and Tony did some good things,” said Hill on Barrett and Rossi. “South Florida threatened a lot the last several innings, but those guys made pitches when they had to and we came up with a big double play to end the game.”

Caba would fall to 3-4 after giving up all five runs on two hits with three walks and two strikeouts in five innings.

Mitchell would be the only Manatee with a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI.

Perez, Ellington and freshman Kevin Karstetter had the remaining three hits.

Other Suncoast Scores:

#13 Florida Southwestern State (32-10, 13-3 Suncoast) defeated Polk State (26-15, 10-5 Suncoast) 8-5.

Hillsborough (13-19, 5-11 Suncoast) defeated St. Pete (18-15, 6-10 Suncoast) 8-3.

Suncoast Standings:

1. #13 FSW (32-10, 13-3)

2. SCF (27-14, 11-5)

3. Polk (26-15, 10-6)

4. SPC (18-5, 6-10)

5. HCC (13-19, 5-11)

6. SFSC (16-24, 3-13)

Up Next:

The Manatees will look to win the series against South Florida State as game two returns to Wynn Field Monday night, April 5 at 6 pm. Sophomore Cole Ayers will be given the nod for the start.

Long’s Return Helps SCF Baseball Snaps Losing Streak

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF baseball team (26-14, 10-5 Suncoast) finally pulled themselves together and snapped their losing streak as they defeated the IMG Academy Postgrad team 10-3. With the win, the Manatees are now 3-0 against the Ascenders.

“A win feels better than a loss any day and we had a rough week,” said head coach Tim Hill II. “I don’t think we played really good tonight, but we did enough to win and IMG helped us out a bit, so it was nice to finally be on the winning side since we haven’t done it in a week.”

“It felt good to get the win,” said freshman Kevin Karstetter. “IMG is a good opponent and they had a good starter, but we did not have our best stuff at the plate, but we figured out a way to get some runs and put up a 10-spot and that was nice.”

“It felt good to get out of this slump we were in and it was a tough week for us and now we’re focused for conference.”

“It was a good win and we needed it,” said sophomore Tucker Mitchell. “It definitely wasn’t handed it to us. They (IMG) threw a good guy against us and we had to battle, make some adjustments and get his pitch count up and for us we needed it as we resume conference and it happened today.”

Hill sent freshman Eli Thurmond to the mound, while IMG head coach Kason Gabbard sent Khaden Washington to counter.

After a scoreless first, the Ascenders would score first at the top of the second after James Porter scored on a wild pitch. In the bottom half of the inning, the Manatees would respond back, beginning with sophomore Jack Anderson drawing a leadoff walk. After Karstetter hit a double, sophomore Owen Ayers would reach first on a fielding error while Anderson scored to tie the game at 1-1. After Ayers stole second, freshman Brayden Woodburn would send a sacrifice fly to center and bring in Karstetter to give the Manatees a 2-1 lead.

Hill would send sophomore Jakob Mattos to the mound to replace Thurmond, however the Ascenders would tie the game at 2-2 after Nico Kulpick drew a bases-loaded walk.

The Manatees would then regain the lead in the bottom of the fifth after Mitchell would send a single to left and bring in sophomore Cameron Lee to make it 3-2 SCF.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Manatees started to finally wake up their offense. After Karstetter drew a leadoff walk and Ayers and sophomore Jacob Steinberg hit back-to-back singles to load the bases, Karstetter would score on a wild pitch. Freshman Joel Perez would then draw a walk to load the bases again before Ayers scored on a wild pitch. After Lee was hit by a pitch to load the bases for the third time this inning, Mitchell would then get hit by a pitch and bring in Steinberg to make it 6-2 SCF.

Soon, a returning freshman Harrison Long would send a double to center and bring in Perez and Lee before freshman Drew Macciochi came in to pinch run. Long was out for 1 straight games due to a hip injury.

“It felt good to be back on the field after watching for a while, which really bothered me,” said Long on his return. “I just wanted to get back out there and play with all my good friends. I started off a little slow since I haven’t seen pitch in a little while, but I stuck to my approach and figured it out.”

Freshman Jake Jackson would then draw a walk for a fourth bases loaded situation before freshman Charlie Davidson drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in Mitchell before Macciochi scored on a fielding error to make it 10-2 SCF.

The Ascenders would add one more run to their scorecard at the top of the seventh as Gabe Wright hit an RBI double, but it was all they could produce at the end as the Manatees ended their losing streak.

Thurmond would get a no-decision after throwing two innings, giving up one unearned run on one hit with one walk and three strikeouts.

Sophomore David Barrett would earn his fourth win of the season after throwing one scoreless inning of relief with two strikeouts. He is now 4-2.

Mattos, Davidson, sophomores Clay Callan and Tony Rossi and freshmen Dylan Vega and Sean Dertinger each threw an inning of relief with at least one strikeout. Mattos and Callan each gave up one run.

Washington would get hit with the loss after giving up three runs (two earned) on three hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in five innings.

“We definitely have a lot of interest in him,” said Hill on Washington. “Barry (Batson) is talking to him and he does seemed interested in maybe staying down in Florida. Our hitters thought he was an interesting guy and I thought he was competitive and he’s probably a big reason why we didn’t swing the bats as well as we’re capable of.”

Karstetter was the only Manatee with a multi-hit game as he went 3-for-4 with two runs and a walk.

“I thought I played well and I was driving the other way well,” said Karstetter on his game. “I found some good barrels with a good approach and got my foot down and did some damage.”

Mitchell and Long each brought in two RBI.

“I was trying to find good pitches to hit, stay within myself and make some small adjustments,” said Mitchell on his game. “It’s all about making adjustments and the more you can make them, the better you’ll be.”

Mitchell threw back to playing at IMG and head coach Gabbard for two years prior to SCF and FAU.

“Playing at IMG for two years and seeing how much they go through and want it, it was good to go to a different place and play them and beat them.”

Ayers and Steinberg had the remaining two hits for the team. Ayers added one RBI and a run, while Steinberg added one run.

Wright was the only Ascender with a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run.

Notes:

This was win #305 for Hill.

Other Suncoast Scores:

#13 Florida Southwestern State (30-10, 12-3 Suncoast) defeated Elev8 Academy 17-1. The Buccaneers will face Pasco-Hernado State (22-19) Friday night, April 2.

Hillsborough (12-19, 4-11 Suncoast) defeated ASA Miami (3-22) 11-7. They will return to Suncoast action against St. Pete.

South Florida State College (16-23, 3-12 Suncoast) defeated NAIA Warner University (B) 18-0 in seven innings.

Up Next:

The Manatees will resume Suncoast Conference play as they begin their second series against South Florida State College. Game one will start on Saturday afternoon, April 3 at 1 pm at the SFSC Panther Field in Avon Park and game two will take place at Wynn Field Monday night, April 5 at 6 pm before wrapping up the series back at SFSC Panther Field Wednesday night, April 7 at 6 pm.

Hill will give sophomore Matt Gelorme the nod for game one and classmate Cole Ayers the nod for game two. For game three, while it has not been decided, Hill will decide between Thurmond and sophomore Daniel Batcher.

Anderson’s Two Home Runs Spark Mercy Rule Win for SCF Baseball

Bradenton, Fla - Sophomores Daniel Batcher and Jack Anderson were the heroes for the night as the #15 SCF baseball team (24-9, 9-2 Suncoast) took another series in Suncoast Conference in merciless fashion as they shutout Hillsborough (8-17, 2-9 Suncoast) 10-0 in seven innings via mercy rule. With the win, the Manatees are now 42-19 against the Hawks.

“Obviously winning a series in conference is a big deal,” said head coach Tim Hill II. “It was a lopsided game on Wednesday and you just have to caution the guys that those runs don’t count for today and it’s 0-0 when you start every game and you want them to come out with their best effort. Hillsborough has got a good club and it just went our way again tonight, so the guys picked up where they left off swinging the bats. It’s great to get the series and to play well on our home field like we’ve been doing all well.”

“Daniel got it off to a good start on the mound and then we came in with the bats while adding some runs early,” said Anderson. “I think the feeling of the game was if we put them down a couple more runs, then we can close it out and that’s what we did tonight. It was a good team win.

Hill II sent Batcher to start game two, while HCC head coach Javi Miranda sent freshman Michael Schuler to counter.

After a scoreless first, the Manatees would draw on the scoreboard first as freshman Joel Perez sent an RBI double to left center to bring in Anderson to make it 1-0 SCF.

In the bottom of the third, the Manatees decided to extend the lead. After a lead-off single by sophomore Owen Ayers, classmate Tucker Mitchell would send a double to left-center to bring in Ayers. Anderson would then increase it even further as the Northwestern transfer would send a two-run blast home run to right off the scoreboard for his third of the season to make it 4-0 SCF.

Defense continued to play a big factor as the Manatees got Batcher out of a runner situation at the top of the fourth. In the bottom half, the Manatees began the inning with sophomore Richard Rodriguez reaching first and advancing to second on a throwing error and Ayers and classmate Cameron Lee drawing back-to-back walks to load the bases for Mitchell, who would draw a bases-loaded walk to bring in Rodriguez. Anderson would then ground a double to left and bring in Ayers and Lee before Mitchell scored on a wild pitch to make it 8-0.

In the bottom of the sixth, Anderson continues his dominant offense as he lined another home run to right center to bring in Mitchell and make it 10-0 SCF. It was Anderson’s fourth of the season and second of the game.

From there, Batcher sealed the deal on the mound for the win and the series.

“It feels great getting the series,” said Anderson on winning the series. “I think that’s one of our goals going into every series to win the series if we can’t get the sweep, so getting back tied for first place in the Suncoast Conference was a good win.”

Batcher would earn his fifth win of the season after throwing a three-hit seven inning shutout with six walks and five strikeouts. He is now 5-2 on the season.

“I felt good out on the mound,” said Batcher on his game. “Even though I was battling with my wrist, I was making good pitches and throwing strikes while trying to stay as consistent as possible. If I have runners on base from walking guys, then I just try to make a good pitch, get a double play or pop up and the defense made plays.”

“Daniel worked around some trouble, but he made pitches when he had to,” said Hill on Batcher. “He competes and I know he looked forwards to pitching. He told me last night that he was hoping the game was still going to happen. Tonight he pitched with some conviction and while he did lose a little focus from the walks, he gathered himself and threw a complete game shutout.”

Schuler would earn his third loss of the season after giving up eight runs (seven earned) on seven hits with four walks and four strikeouts in four innings. He is now 2-3 on the year.

Freshman Justin Kenyon gave up two runs on two hits with three strikeouts in two innings.

Anderson finished with his best offensive game as he went 4-for-4 with two home runs and six RBI. In fact, it was his first multi-home run game in his career.

“I felt really good at the plate today,” said Anderson. “Just knowing I can get some runs on the board for the team to get us a good lead. It felt really good. It was a good day.”

“The wind was blowing straight in and it was a cooler night,” said Hill.  “We thought the cold weather would be over by now, but a front came through last night and kind of a windy day. Jack went backside tonight, one off the scoreboard and the other in right center. He’s got some pretty good man strength to get those two home runs. He had a great night.”

Mitchell finished behind Anderson going 2-for-3 with two RBI, three runs scored and a walk.

Perez (1-for-3, one RBI), Rodriguez (1-for-3, one run) and Ayers (1-for-3, one RBI and two runs) had the Manatees remaining three hits.

Freshmen Alex Aguila and Benji Gilbert and redshirt freshman Adrian Mella had the Hawks combined three hits.

Notes:

This was win #303 for Hill.

SCF is on a 20-game winning streak at home. It is the longest under the Hill II era. 

Other Suncoast Scores:

St. Pete (16-10, 6-5 Suncoast) were able to upset #17 Florida Southwestern State (25-9, 9-2 Suncoast) winning by a score 4-3 to tie their series.

Polk State (20-14, 6-5 Suncoast) defeated South Florida State College (11-21, 1-10 Suncoast) 8-5 to win the series.

 Suncoast Standings:

1. #17 FSW (25-9, 9-2)

2. #15 SCF (24-9, 9-2)

3. SPC (16-10, 6-5)

4. Polk State (20-14, 6-5)

5. HCC (8-17, 2-9)

6. SFSC (11-21, 1-10)

Up Next:

The Manatees will look to complete their second sweep in conference play against HCC. Freshman Nick Consentino will be given the nod to start game three.

Gelorme’s Career-High on the Mound Leads SCF Baseball Over FSW

After snapping their 20-game winning streak at home and dropping one spot in the national rankings, the #16 SCF baseball team (25-10, 10-3 Suncoast) bounced back and pulled off a big rivalry win over #15 Florida Southwestern State (26-10, 10-3 Suncoast) 4-0 in game one of the three-game series. With the win, the Manatees are now 19-6 against the Buccaneers. Additionally, the Manatees are now tied for first place in the Suncoast Conference.

“FSW is a very good ball club,” said head coach Tim Hill II. “This is a big series since we’re both tied for first in the Suncoast. It’s nice to get the series started with a ‘W’. They’re well coached and have some very good players. I thought tonight was a pretty crisp game, obviously with us throwing the shutout is always nice. I thought their pitchers did a good job as well.”

Hill went with sending sophomore Matt Gelorme to the mound, while FSW head coach Ben Biziernsent went with sophomore Enrique Cotto to counter.

While he did give up a leadoff single at the top of the first, Gelorme was able to breeze through the first with three straight strikeouts.

While the first two innings went scoreless, the Manatees would get on the board first. After sophomore Cameron Lee hit a leadoff single before advancing to second on a balk and third on a throwing error, classmate Tucker Mitchell would hit a hard ground ball single to center and bring in Lee for the first run of the game. After freshman Kevin Karstetter hit a two-out single and classmate Brayden Woodburn drew a walk to load the bases, freshman Jake Jackson would send a hard ground ball single to center and bring in Mitchell and Karstetter for a 3-0 SCF lead.

“It felt good to have another quality at-bat and come through for the boys,” said Jackson on his hit. “At the end of the day, they (FSW) did not put up any runs because of Matt and David.”

After Anderson hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth, Biziern would make a change to the mound as he sent sophomore Robert Weigelnik to the mound where he would get out of the inning.

After throwing a leadoff walk, Hill decided to pull Gelorme and send sophomore David Barrett to the mound. With a big double play by freshman Joel Perez, Barrett was able to get out of the seventh with a fly out.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Manatees would extend their lead after sophomore Owen Ayers reached first and advanced to second on a fielding error, while Lee scored to make it.

From there, Barrett would be able to seal the deal with one final push and get the final groundout for the win.

Gelorme would go to 2-0 for the win after throwing six shutout innings, giving up three hits with three walks and a career-high 11 strikeouts.

“Anytime I go out on the mound, I know my defense has my back and that’s usually a good feeling,” said Gelorme. “When we get runs early, it makes my job a lot easier. All I have to do is get ahead of offensive hitters and strikeouts will come, but my job is to make them put the ball in play and I felt like I did that tonight and my defense really backed me up.”

“It’s a great feeling,” said Gelorme on his strikeout career-high. “I like to attribute that to getting ahead in the count early. If I can get the hitter down on two strikes and one ball or no balls, then it makes it a lot easier because I can waste pitches and get them to swing at something. If they don’t swing, then I’ll just back with a strike and hopefully get the miss.”

Barrett threw three shutout innings of relief for his second save of the season, giving up three hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

“It felt good to be back on the mound,” said Barrett. “Matt dominated the whole game and made it pretty easy going out there with the three-run lead and Jake (Jackson) comes in timely with his hitting when we need him.”

“Matt has been throwing really well for us,” said Hill on Gelorme. “He throws three pitches for strikes, he’s got good stuff and competes. He was the story of the game. I thought he was in control of the whole way. David came in and picked up where Matt left off and it was nice having the both of them do what they’re capable of doing while facing really good hitters on their part and they pitched really well.”

Cotto would be dubbed with his first loss of the season after giving up three runs on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts in four and a third. He is now 3-1 on the year.

Weigelnik gave up one unearned run with six walks and six strikeouts in three and two-thirds of relief.

Ayers, Mitchell, Anderson, Karstetter, Jackson and Lee each had one of the team’s six hits.

Sophomore Warnner Rincones was the only Buccaneer with a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-4. In fact, he was the only player out of both teams to have a multi-hit game.

Notes:

This was career win #304 for Hill as head coach for the Manatees.

Other Suncoast Scores:

Polk State (22-14, 8-5 Suncoast) defeated St. Pete (16-12, 6-7 Suncoast) 14-4.

South Florida State College (12-22, 2-11 Suncoast) defeated Hillsborough (9-18, 3-10 Suncoast) 6-3.

Suncoast Standings:

1. #15 FSW (26-10, 10-3)

2. #17 SCF (25-10, 10-3)

3. Polk State (22-14, 8-6)

4. SPC (16-12, 6-7)

5. HCC (9-18, 3-10)

6. SFSC (12-22, 2-11)

Up Next:

The Manatees will travel to Fort Myers for the second game against FSW Wednesday afternoon, March 24 at 3 pm. Sophomore Tony Rossi will be given the nod to start the game.

SCF Baseball Opens Next Series vs HCC

Bradenton, Fla - After another successful series in Suncoast Conference play, the #15 SCF baseball team (22-9, 7-2 Suncoast) will host their next three-game series at Robert C. Wynn Field against Hillsborough (8-15, 2-7). Games one (Wednesday night, March 17) and two (Friday night, March 19) will start at 6 pm, while game three (Friday afternoon, March 20) will start at 1 pm.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of winning their third straight series in Suncoast play against St. Pete College. They would lose game one by a score of 8-1 at SPC and winning game two 23-13 in seven innings at home before winning game three 4-1 at SPC.

The Sarasota KO Punch:

The duo of sophomore Owen Ayers and freshman Harrison Long have been two of the key benefactors for the Manatees offense.

Ayers is currently batting .333 with a team-leading five home runs and 24 RBI. In the series against St. Pete, he was 5-for-13 with a home run and four RBI.

Despite battling a hip injury, Long is batting .318 with four home runs and 22 RBI. He was 2-for-6 against St. Pete.

PR Pride:

Two big names that have been putting their foots in the door are the duo of freshman Joel Perez and Richard Rodriguez.

Perez is currently batting .363 with four RBI. Against SPC, he was 6-for-10 with three RBI.

Rodriguez is batting .241 with a home run, 13 RBI and six stolen bases. Against SPC, he batted 4-for-8 with one RBI.

Start Your Engines:

Freshman Kevin Karstetter has provided a spark when it comes to getting RBI. Karstetter is currently batting .305 with two home runs and a team-leading 32 RBI. Against SPC, Karstetter went 6-for-13 with five RBI, which included hitting the game-winner in game two of the series.

Powerhouse Pack:

Sophomores Jack Anderson and Tucker Mitchell continue to add their power to the Manatees offense.

Anderson is batting .327 with two home runs and 20 RBI. Anderson finished 4-for-12 with two RBI.

Mitchell is currently batting .360 with a home run and 23 RBI. The upcoming NC State transfer was 3-for-13 with four RBI against SPC.

Power Arms:

Sophomore Daniel Batcher and Cole Ayers are the big arms for the Manatees.

Although he lost in the opening series against SPC, Batcher is currently 4-2 with a 2.95 ERA and 40 strikeouts.

Ayers, who is just returning to the lineup after battling bicep tendinitis is currently 2-0 with a 5.50 ERA and 21 strikeouts. In his last appearance, the upcoming transfer for the University of Cincinnati threw five innings against Polk State with four strikeouts.

Wild Things:

From the other pitchers, sophomores Matt Gelorme, David Barrett, Jakob Mattos and Clay Callan and freshmen Eli Thurmond and Nick Consentino played key roles on the mound.

Gelorme had one of his best outings in the series finale against SPC as he threw six and a third scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in his first collegiate win in his career. He is currently 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA, one save and 32 strikeouts.

Although he had a hiccup in a loss to Polk State, Barrett is still 3-2 with a 3.55 ERA, one save and 36 strikeouts.

Bouncing around as a starter and relief pitcher, Mattos is currently 1-0 with a 6.50 ERA and 20 strikeouts. In his last appearance, Mattos threw a scoreless inning in the loss against Polk State.

A second veteran in relief, Callan is 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA, one save and 16 strikeouts.

Thurmond leans towards being the closer for the Manatees. Currently, he is 3-1 with a 2.87 ERA, three save and 26 strikeouts.

Consentino is currently 1-0 with a 5.12 ERA, one save and 21 strikeouts.

Welcome Back Fans:

The SCF Athletics Department made the decision to let fans be in attendance on a limited basis for the baseball and softball games since they are outdoors. The only ones allowed to attend the games are students (including other student-athletes) and faculty members, but the temporary maximum of attendance is 20 people. 

Students and staff that attend must arrive no less than five minutes before the game time, present their SCF ID for entry, must wear a mask and social distance in adherence to the CDC guidelines.

Professional (MLB or any professional baseball team) and collegiate scouts are allowed to attend, but also must wear a mask and social distance upon entry

Fans that are neither a student nor faculty member of SCF are not allowed to attend.

In order to attend, students and faculty members must signup online no later than the night before the game at 11:59 pm. At midnight, the signup will be closed.

*Link below

Scouting HCC:

The Hawks are coming off of losing a series to Polk State. They would lose game one 7-4 and win game two 5-4 before losing game three 6-5 in the rubber match.

Redshirt freshman Alex Cordero leads the Hawks offensively as he is batting .333 with a team-leading eight home runs and 20 RBI.

On the mound, freshman Michael Schuler is 2-2 with a 3.58 ERA and 30 strikeouts.

Series History (2012-present):

Overall the Manatees are 40-19 against the Hawks. While they haven’t played each other in over a year due to COVID-19, last time both teams met, they split the series 3-3 during the season before the Manatees took the finale in a qualification game for a spot in the 2019 FCSAA State Tournament. 

How to Keep Up:

Livestats will be provided by GameChanger and will air on the SCF Sports Network.

Fans can also keep up with both teams on Twitter

SCF: @SCFBaseball

HCC: @BaseballHCC

Signup Link: https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10c0945acac2eabf94-317

GameChanger Link: https://gc.com/t/spring-2021/state-college-of-florida-baseball-21-6006c9046d2f825a1c98e005

SCF Sports Network Link: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/scf/

SCF Baseball Takes Series Over SPC

The #15 SCF baseball team (22-9, 7-2 Suncoast) were able to pull away with their third Suncoast Conference series in success as they defeated St. Pete College (15-9, 5-4 Suncoast) 4-1 in the rubber game. With the win, the Manatees are now 34-13 against the Titans and will face them in a second three-game series in April.

“It was nice to win the series against a very good St. Pete team,” said head coach Tim Hill II.  “The biggest difference from tonight compared to the first two games was we got on top early. I thought we had a chance to get more runs earlier in the game, but we had some good at-bats where we hit some balls right at people.”

Head Coach Tim Hill II sent sophomore Matt Gelorme to the mound, while SPC head coach Ryan Beckman sent sophomore Chris Brucks to counter.

At the top of the first, the Manatees would open the flood gates first. After sophomore Tucker Mitchell was hit by a pitch before freshman Jake Jackson hit a single, sophomore Jack Anderson would send a double to center and bring Mitchell and Jackson home for a 2-0 SCF lead.

At the top of the third, the Manatees extended their lead to 3-0 thanks to a RBI single by freshman Brayden Woodburn that brought in classmate Kevin Karstetter.

At the top of the fourth, the Manatees kept pushing their score up. After back-to-back singles by freshman Joel Perez and sophomore Richard Rodriguez, classmate Owen Ayers would send a hard single of his own to right and bring in Perez for a 4-0 SCF lead.

Meanwhile on the mound, Gelorme was setting his sight on his first win of the season. In the bottom half of the fourth, despite giving up a lead-off single, the product of Lakewood Ranch was able to strikeout three straight batters to get out of the inning.

While the Manatees’ bat were quite for the next two innings, Gelorme’a arm was not as he was able to fight through it with a few strikeouts.

In the bottom of the seventh, Gelorme was getting tired after over 90 pitches. After putting two runners on base with one out, Hill decided to pull him out and send freshman Eli Thurmond to the mound. While Thurmond did get into a jam with runners into a scoring, the product of Bradenton Christian was able to get the remaining two outs of the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Titans would finally get their first run on the board off of a solo home run by sophomore Christian Rivera for his fourth home run of the season. While Thurmond did get into another jam with runners on the bases, he was able to seal the deal and strike out freshman Justin Turk to give the Manatees the win.

“We played one of our best games of the season tonight,” said Gelorme on the win. “Anytime the hitters can get us out to an early lead, it makes the game a lot smoother. The defense was perfect tonight and as a pitcher that’s all you can ask for.”

“It feels great to claiming the series against SPC,” said Perez. “I knew it was going to be a dog fight.”

Gelorme would earn the his first collegiate win in his career after throwing six and a third scoreless innings, giving up five hits with two walks and eight strikeouts.

”This may be my first win in my collegiate career, but I don’t really look at those kinds of things,” said Gelorme on his first win. “If I go out there and do my job, then I know my team will have my back and get the win and tonight we did just that.”

I was happy to see Matt (Gelorme) throw well again,” said Hill on Gelorme’s first win. “He has pitched well for us this year and had a very good outing tonight. He was in control the whole game.”

Thurmond earned his third save of the season after throwing two and two-thirds innings of relief, giving up one run on three hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

Brucks would earn the loss after giving up all four runs on 10 hits with one strikeout. He is now 1-1 on the season.

Perez lead the team in hitting as he went 3-for-4 with a run. He finished the series 6-for-10 with three RBI.

“My mindset at the plate was trying to keep it simple and battle,” said Perez on his game. “I wanted them to know that I owned the plate.”

Rodriguez (2-for-4), Ayers (2-for-5, one RBI) and Karstetter (2-for-4, one run scored) each had two hits.

“Richard and Joel gave us a spark at the bottom of our lineup,” said Hill II on Rodriguez and Perez. “Joel has been playing well the last several games and plays with a lot of energy. Richard is starting to hit the ball to the opposite field which is giving him more success.”

Anderson want the only Manatee with a multi-RBI game as he went 1-for-4 with two RBI, Jackson (1-for-5, one run) and Woodburn (1-for-3, one RBI and one walk) had the remaining two hits.

Freshman Gabriel Rincones was 3-for-4, while Rivera was 2-for-4 with the lone home run.

Notes: This was win #301 for Hill.

Other Suncoast Scores:

Polk State (18-14, 4-5 Suncoast) defeated Hillsborough (8-15, 2-7 Suncoast) 6-5 to claim the series.

#17 Florida Southwestern State (24-8, 8-1 Suncoast) defeated South Florida State College (11-19, 1-8 Suncoast) 14-12 to sweep the series.

Suncoast Standings:

1. #17 FSW (24-8, 9-1)

2. #15 SCF (22-9, 7-2)

3. SPC (15-9, 5-4)

4. Polk State (18-14, 4-5)

5. HCC (8-15, 2-7)

6. SFSC (11-19, 1-8)

Up Next:

The Manatees will be back at home for a three- game series Suncoast play as they welcome Hillsborough to Robert C. Wynn Field. All three games will be at Wynn Field Wednesday night, March 17 at 6 pm, Friday night, March 19 at 6 pm and Saturday afternoon, March 20 at 1 pm.

Sophomore Tony Rossi will pitch game one, while classmate Daniel Batcher will pitch game two and freshmen Nick Consentino pitch in game three.

Hill Earns 300th Win With SCF Baseball

Bradenton, Fla - History was made for a soaked head coach Tim Hill II at Robert C. Wynn Field as the #11 SCF baseball team (21-9, 6-2 Suncoast) defeated St. Pete (15-8, 5-3 Suncoast) 23-13 in seven innings. With the win, the Manatees tied the series and are now 33-13 against the Titans.

“Brayden Woodburn said it best when he was on third base last inning and said ‘Coach, this is the craziest game I have ever been in’, said Hill II. I’ve been plenty of crazy games and it didn’t look good for us for a while, but we didn’t play very well defensively and our pitching wasn’t sharp as it usually was, but the guys kept battling, kept swinging the bats with 14 runs in seventh, which is something you don’t expect and that’s one of those things that appears once in a long time, so I’m glad we were on the winning side of it.”

“It was a rough start and a rough game,” said sophomore Tucker Mitchell. “We knew that we would have to fight throughout it all and we tried as a group to just stay positive and get our pitchers backs and keep swinging.”

“It was a great game,” said freshman Kevin Karstetter. “We battled the whole game, made some mistakes, but we dug ourselves out of it and piled up some runs late and that’s the type of team we are hitting and hopefully keep it going.”

“Overall, we battled the whole game,” said freshman Joel Pérez. “We had a lot of hits, scored 23 runs to end the game with a bang. It was a group effort and the guys did a great job.”

Hill sent freshman Nick Consentino to the mound, while SPC head coach Ryan Beckman sent sophomore Ivan Martinez to counter.

The Titans would score 3-0 in the first two innings while hold the Manatees scoreless in the first. In the bottom of the second, the Manatees’ bats would respond begin with a leadoff single by sophomore Jack Anderson. One batter later, freshman Brayden Woodburn would double before sophomore Jacob Steinberg sent a infield single and bring in Anderson for the Manatees first run of the game. After Pérez hit a single to load the bases, sophomore Owen Ayers would draw a walk and bring Woodburn home to cut SPC’s lead to 3-2.

At the top of the fourth, the Titans would extend their lead to 5-2 after a two-RBI double by sophomore Justin Turk, but the Manatees decided to respond again in the bottom half of the inning. After Steinberg drew a leadoff walk, freshman Charlie Davidson would send a double to left and bring in Steinberg. Ayers would soon tie the game with a two-run homer to right for his fifth of the season. After Mitchell hit a single and advanced on fielding error, freshman Jake Jackson would groundout and send Mitchell home to give the Manatees a 6-5 lead.

St. Pete would then regain their lead and make it 8-6 in their favor at the fifth before the Manatees regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth beginning with Pérez getting hit by a pitch to leadoff. After Ayers hit a single, Mitchell would hit into a fielder’s choice and bring in Perez to cut the deficit to 8-7. After Anderson hit a double, Karstetter would send Mitchell and Anderson home to give the Manatees a 9-8.

The Titans would not back down at the top of the seventh and regained the lead to 13-9 after sophomore Christian Rivera was a hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, freshman Chris Williams hit into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded, freshman Carlos Castillo hit a two-RBI double before scoring on a wild pitch.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Manatees energy would not back down as they were determined to get the win. Woodburn would open the bottom half by getting hit by a pitch. Sophomore Richard Rodriguez would then folllow with a single before being called out after classmate Rook Ellington hit into a fielder’s choice. Pérez would continue the Manatees rally as the Miramar native lined a single to left and bring in Woodburn. Ayers would then draw a walk to load the bases while Beckman made a pitching change. Mitchell would cut the deficit to one run with a bases-loaded double and bring in Ellington and Pérez before Jackson tied the game to 13-13 after an RBI single that brought in Ayers before leading to another Titan pitching change.

After Anderson drew a walk to load the bases, Karstter would send a single to left and bring in Mitchell to make it 14-13 SCF.

The Manatees batted around as Woodburn would single to right and bring in Jackson. Rodriguez would then hit a single to bring in Anderson before Ellington brought in Karstteter after drawing a bases-loaded walk. Pérez would then hit a bases-loaded two-RBI single and bring in Woodburn and Rodriguez before Ayers loaded the bases after reaching on a fielding error. Mitchell would send a sacrifice fly to center and bring in Ellington for the Manatees 20th run of the game before Jackson sent a single to center and bring in Pérez.

After Anderson drew a walk to load the bases once again, all eyes were turned to Karstetter to seal the deal. On an 0-2 count, the Pennsylvanian would send a hard single to left and bring in Ayers and Jackson and seal the 10-run mercy for the win.

“Driving in runs was it was all about,” said Karstetter on bringing in the the game-winning runs. “When you drive in runs, good things happen and you help your team. It happened to be a walk-off again and it was great to do so again.”

Consentino and Martinez earned no-decisions for the game. Consentino gave up five runs on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts in three and a third, while Martinez gave up four runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts in three innings.

Freshman Eli Thurmond would earn the win after throwing a third of a scoreless inning. Thurmond is now 3-1 on the season.

Freshman El Rico Riley was dubbed with his first loss after giving up eight runs (four earned) on six hits with three walks in a third of a innings of relief. He was also 3-for-4 with two RBI and two walks.

Karstetter was the leader of the game after going 4-for-6 with five RBI.

“Kevin has had a ton of RBIs this season and a bunch more today,” said Hill on Karstetter. “He’s a good player and I’m excited he’s with us.”

Anderson and Perez were both 3-for-4. Anderson added three runs and two walks, while Perez added three RBI.

“I just go out there and have fun,” said Perez on his game. “That’s what it’s all about. I enjoy playing with these guys and I do what I can to help the guys win.”

“While Joel hasn’t played as much as some of the other guys, but I tell him like I tell the others that I like this team and we got a lot more depth than we usually have and have to be ready to go,” said Hill on Pérez. “Joel is making the most of his opportunities, he plays with a lot of energy, which is why we signed him, and I like the energy he brings to the field and he did a nice job.”

Mitchell (2-for-5, four RBI, three runs), Ayers (2-for-4, three RBI, three runs, two walks), Jackson (2-for-6, three RBI, two runs scored), Woodburn (2-for-4, one RBI, three runs) and Rodriguez (2-for-2, one RBI, one run) each had two hits and at least one RBI. Jackson also threw a third of an inning of relief, giving up two runs on one hit with one walk and one strikeout.

“I got outside myself the first two at-bats and then had a little with Donnie (Robinson) to figure out what I needed to do to go forward," said Mitchell. "It felt really good in my the last two at-bats to keep it going.”

“Tucker always does his thing at the plate and is one of the better hitters in the state,” said Hill on Mitchell.

Steinberg (1-for-2, one RBI, one run and one walk) and Davidson (1-for-3, one RBI and one run) had the remaining two hits.

Williams, Castillo and Turk each had two hits for the Titans.

Notes:

It was announced that Mitchell has committed to play for North Carolina State University in Raleigh

The 23 runs were the most scored under the Hill II era.

This was Hill II’s 300th career win as head coach for the Manatees

“When you coach long enough like I have, then you’ll start having games of recognition like that,” said Hill II on his 300th win. “I appreciate it all the guys making a big deal of it, which is great, but it’s about them and it means I’ve been coaching for a while, so it’s nice to be recognized for sure, but I follow two really good coaches here and I’m proud to be the coach at SCF and the team that I’m with right now.”

“It’s a great feeling,” said Mitchell on Hill’s 300th win. “We work so hard and play for each other so much and for coach Hill. We want him to succeed just as much as we want to succeed and getting him to that milestone is great and something we’ll remember for a while.”

Other Suncoast Scores:

#20 Florida Southwestern State (23-8, 7-1 Suncoast) defeated South Florida State College (11-18, 1-7 Suncoast) 7-0 to open their series.

Hillsborough (8-14, 2-6) defeated Polk State (17-4, 3-5) 5-4.

Suncoast Standings:

1. #20 FSW (23-8, 7-1)

2. #11 SCF (21-9, 6-2)

3. SPC (15-8, 5-3)

4. Polk State (17-14, 3-5)

5. HCC (8-14, 2-6)

6. SFSC (11-18, 1-7)

Up Next:

The Manatees will be looking to claim their third series as they head back to Clearwater Monday night, March 15 at 6 pm. Sophomore Matt Gelorme will be given the nod to start the game.