Sickles bats stay hot, Timko keeps Gaither off bases

By Chuck Frye
Correspondent

TAMPA – Even a cold, blustery post-storm Saturday afternoon couldn’t chill Sickles’ red-hot bats.
Entering Saladino Tournament play at Jefferson High with a top-10 batting average in the state and top 30 in the country, Sickles churned out another 14 hits against five Gaither pitchers to pull away for a 7-1 victory.

Eight of the nine batters for Sickles (7-0) reached base led by sophomore Louisville commit Thomas Bly (three hits and a walk, RBI) and junior Florida commit Hayden Yost (three hits, RBI). Junior Caden McDonald (top three in the nation in batting average) and junior leadoff batter Connor Vance added a pair of safeties each.

Sickles got its first four batters on in the bottom of the first inning to take a two-run lead, then strung three-straight successful at-bats together to add another tally in the third.

Gaither (1-5) stayed close but saw its chances disappear in the sixth when Sickles sent 10 batters to the plate, scoring four times via run-scoring hits from Vance and Yost before a two-run base hit from McDonald.

“It comes down to our approach that we talk(ed) about coming into a game, knowing what we’re trying to execute then going and doing it,” Gryphons head coach Eric Luksis said of his team’s .400-plus batting average to date. “I’ve got good players, good leaders and good listeners and it’s paid off for us so far.”

In his longest outing of his career, senior lefty Kyle Timko went 5.2 innings, scattering six hits and fanning a pair. He also helped his cause by picking off three runners at first base to crush rallies before they started.

“He actually was 4-for-4 but we screwed up one of them,” Luksis said. “Kyle’s got a good move and it’s something he takes pride in.”

“There was one kid that didn’t have a big lead but I froze him and still got him,” Timko said of a game where just three Gaither runners reached scoring position. “It feels good when I make a mistake and let someone on, get them out and get to work with no one on.”

For Gaither head coach Nelson North, who got two-hit efforts from junior Miguel Pina and senior Keaton Ference, the Saladino Tourney and its compressed schedule provides a quick education for his young squad.

“This gives us 28 innings of at-bats, defense and pitching. We want it to be productive. We’re not necessarily looking at wins and losses but experience,” he said. “We want to get better for the end of the season.”

Sickles moves into the winner’s bracket in the Gold Division and will face Steinbrenner at Jefferson on Monday at 4pm, while Gaither travels to Bloomingdale to face the Bulls in the consolation bracket at 7pm.

⚾⚾⚾⚾

(4) Sickles 7
Gaither 1

G 000|000|1 – |1|8|2
S 201|004|x – |7|13|1
W – Timko (0-0); L – Rojas (0-0)
Records – G (1-5); S (7-0).