TSC Baseball Championship - Day One Recap
Game 1: No. 1 St. Thomas 11, No. 6 Thomas 3
Top seeded St. Thomas trailed 1-0 after two innings before scoring five unanswered runs over the next three innings. After a TU fielding error allowed St. Thomas to draw even at one, the Bobcats took their first lead of the afternoon as Jackie Urbaez delivered a two-out RBI single to left field.
Chris Garabedian pushed STU’s lead to 3-1 in the top of the fourth on his RBI single to center, driving in Sergio Lopez, who reached on a leadoff triple to right field. Garabedian came through again for the Bobcats an inning later, driving in two runs with his second hit of the day, giving St. Thomas a 5-1 lead.
The Night Hawks tallied a two runs in the bottom of the fifth to climb within 5-3, but the relentless St. Thomas offense answered with a pair of runs in three of the final four innings of play, coming away with the 11-3 victory.
For the Bobcats, starting pitcher Orlando Rodriguez improved to 13-0 on the year after allowing just three runs while striking out six in 5.2 innings of work.
The Night Hawks were led offensively by Gavin Murphy’s 2-4 day at the plate, including an RBI. On the mound for TU, Dillon Rutland allowed five earned runs over 5.1 innings of work, dropping to 3-5 on the season.
Game 2: No. 2 Southeastern 2, No. 5 Webber International 3
The fifth seeded Warriors jumped out to a 1-0 advantage in the bottom of the first inning as Manny Rodriguez came in to score on a first-and-third steal attempt with two outs. The one run advantage held until the top of the fifth when Southeastern jumped in front, 2-1 on Nick Bottari’s two-out, two run single to center field.
Two innings later, Webber’s Jesse Coleman knotted the game at 2-2 as he lifted a one-out sacrifice fly to center, driving in Rodriguez, who reached on a leadoff error. WIU then pushed ahead in the bottom of the eighth as Coleman delivered an RBI single to center, plating Rodriguez for the third time in the contest, lifting the Warriors to the 3-2 upset of No. 4 Southeastern.
Webber was led at the plate by Quirino Esquivel’s 3-for-4 game, while Rodriguez also finished with multiple hits on the afternoon. Zak Spivy struck out nine while picking up the complete-game victory for the Warriors.
For Southeastern, Nick Bottari picked up two of the three Fire hits in the ballgame, driving in both of their runs as well. Jonathan Bermudez struck out eight over 7.2 innings of work, dropping to 12-2 on the year.
Game 3: No. 3 Florida Memorial 2, No. 4 Keiser 1
The fourth seeded Seahawks took a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Marco Rivera led off the game with a triple to right field before scoring on a wild pitch. The Lions capitalized on a critical two-out error in the bottom half by pushing across a pair of unearned runs, highlighted by an Axel Gomez RBI single up the middle to claim a 2-1 advantage.
A pitcher’s duel then ensued as both teams combined for eight hits over the next seven and a half innings, with both starters going the distance and Florida Memorial coming out on top, 2-1.
The Lions were led by Raymond Guerrero’s 3-for-4 performance at the plate, and by Christian Rivera on the mound. The right-handed sophomore struck out four while tossing a complete-game victory, moving to 6-2 on the year.
Offensively, the Seahawks were led by Rivera, who picked up two of Keiser’s four hits, including the leadoff triple in the first. On the mound, Alec Lameroux struck out eight batters over eight innings, while not allowing an earned run in the loss. The loss drops the senior to 9-4 on the campaign.