Two Lower Seeds Advance on Day One of Baseball Tournament
GM 1: No. 6 Seed Thomas 4, No. 1 Seed Southeastern 3
Records: Southeastern (47-9), Thomas (25-24)
Game Time: 3:05
Pitchers of Record: W: Meran (7-4), L: Hartle (7-2), S: Westbrook (8)
Weather: 80, overcast
Location: FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach, Fla.
The No. 6 seed Thomas accounted for the game’s opening offensive production, as the Night Hawks plated three runs in the top of the third inning. Levi O’Steen had a double to drive in the third run, but the Fire’s Marc Soto came in for relief with the bases loaded and got the third out to strand three base runners.
Thomas starting pitcher Jorge Meran was in control on the mound early and held the Fire scoreless on just three hits over the first six innings of play. Southeastern however got on the board in the top of the seventh inning, first with an RBI single from Noah Strohl to make it 3-1 and then a bases-loaded walk from Colton Onstott to make it 3-2. The Night Hawks relieved Meran with Hassan Westbrook, who got what he wanted with a strikeout to maintain the Thomas lead at 3-2 through seven innings of play.
Thomas’s Jake Webb then doubled-in Landon Boyette in the top of the eighth frame to make it 4-2, but the Fire responded with one more run in the bottom half to go into the ninth with Thomas leading 4-3. After the Night Hawks’ were held scoreless in their at-bats, Southeastern was able to load the bases with two outs already recorded. Westbrook however sealed the postseason victory for Thomas with the save, his eighth of the season, getting a fly out to left-center field for the final out.
GM 2: No. 5 Seed Warner 10, 2 Seed St. Thomas 8
Records: St. Thomas (43-11), Warner (32-19)
Game Time: 2:50
Pitchers of Record: W: Fernandez (9-5), L: Rodriguez (8-2), S: Theune (2)
Weather: 80, overcast
Location: FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach, Fla.
St. Thomas jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on the strength of a two-run home run from the right fielder Sergio Lopez. It didn’t take long however for Warner to get its offense going as the Royals brought across four runs in the bottom of the second, highlighted by a stand-up double from leadoff hitter Xanders Vasquez that cleared the loaded bases and made it 4-2.
The two starting pitchers, Andres Fernandez for Warner and Orlando Rodriguez for St. Thomas, began to settle in and quiet the bats. Fernandez proceeded to post five consecutive scoreless frames, Rodriguez four of his own, and the 4-2 Warner advantage remained all the way until the bottom of the seventh inning. That was when Warner was able to break the game open however, and when the dust had settled the Royals were able to extend the lead to 9-2 by tacking on five more runs. Scott Fickas had a two-RBI double to right field during the productive frame.
Fernandez held St. Thomas scoreless once again in the eighth, and Warner added one more run in their at-bats to place the score at 10-2 before the Bobcats were due up in the top of the ninth. St. Thomas had no intentions of going down quietly however, and the Bobcats got things started with Lopez’s second home run of the game, a solo shot. Four consecutive hits later the score was 10-5, and St. Thomas loaded the bases with one out. A nice catch from second baseman Rafael Astacio on a blooper to shallow right field accounted for the second out, but then a Jackie Urbaez single followed by a Warner error in the outfield brought all three baserunners in to score to make it 10-8.
After a walk, St. Thomas improbably was able to have the go-ahead run come to the plate after facing the eight-run deficit, but Warner’s Joey Theune came in out of the bullpen to earn the save with a groundout to the shortstop to help Warner knock off St. Thomas.
GM 3: No. 3 Seed Webber International 9, No. 4 Seed Keiser 6
Records: Webber International (34-18), Keiser (32-20)
Game Time: 4:25
Pitchers of Record: W: Spivey (10-4), L: Tworek (6-6), S: Blackman (2)
Weather: 75, rainy
Location: FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach, Fla.
In the nightcap of the Sun Conference Tournament’s opening day, Webber International grabbed a 2-0 lead after the first inning of play following a two-run home run from Marcus Begg. The Keiser bats responded with two singles and a hit batter to begin the second inning, and Nate VanKan produced the Seahawks opening RBI with a groundout. The rain and lightning then came as the game was delayed for about an hour and a half due to weather, and when play was resumed at approximately 8:05 p.m. Keiser was able to tie it up at two runs apiece.
Webber International was able to produce a big offensive inning in the bottom of the third with six runs to seize an 8-2 lead. Six different players were credited with an RBI before the Warriors got into the Keiser bullpen early, as Jake Voss relieved the Seahawk starter Chad Tworek to record the frame’s final out.
The score would remain that way until the Seahawks created three runs in the fifth to draw to within 8-5, as Mark Gottsacker had a two-out, two RBI double to deep left-center to highlight Keiser’s scoring. Begg’s fourth RBI of the game however came in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out single to push the Warrior lead to 9-5.
The contest saw a second delay before the start of the eighth inning, this time of about 15 minutes as heavy rain continued to come down in West Palm Beach. Webber International’s starting pitcher and Sun Conference Co-Pitcher of the Year Zak Spivey came out of the delay and set the Seahawks down in order in the top of the eighth, but after the Warrior bats were retired by Voss, Keiser had each of the first three batters in the ninth reach on a VanKan double and two hit batters before the Warriors elected to go to the bullpen. Keiser made it 9-6 on a fielder’s choice, but a 6-4-3 double-play concluded the tournament’s opening day.
To follow along with all of the updates from Day 2 on Friday at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Florida, head over to the 2019 Sun Conference Baseball
Tournament Central.