Dragons change the number each inning against Alonso

By Jarrett Guthrie
Editor

TAMPA – A screaming line drive barely nicked the glove of Jefferson starting pitcher Mikey Marroquin before smashing into his pitching forearm. The Dragons sophomore recovered quickly before gathering the ball up and tossing it to first for an out in the third inning. After one more out, he returned to the dugout a reddening welt visible.

But it was nothing a little bit of ice couldn’t eventually soothe – ice and the steady salve of runs Jefferson’s offense provided in support. Every inning actually, as the Dragons ended things in six, 11-1 against visiting Alonso on Tuesday.

“It was pretty scary,” Marroquin said of the comebacker. “But after that, I was just (thinking) get up and pitch, I wasn’t going to worry about it. I just had to do my job.”

Jefferson (9-9) got things going quickly as JaMarques Benton drew a leadoff walk, and the Dragons’ lone starting senior Alejandro Montada (2-for-3) put a groundball up the middle for an RBI single.

“That’s always going to be huge for us,” Montada said about scoring in the first. “Hitting third, if someone is on, my goal is always going to be to get them in, that momentum is going to carry for the rest of the game.

“We scored every inning, that is something that plays out because of that first inning.”

Benton drove in a run in the second, and Hayden Sekanick (2-for-3, run, stolen base) singled in a run in the third.

Marroquin loaded the bases in the first inning, but escaped unscathed, then worked a steady for five innings, allowing one run on five hits and striking out four to earn his fifth win of the season.

The effort, and his spark after being hit by the line drive impressed Montada, the Dragons catcher.

“He looked good from the first pitch,” Montada said. “After he got hit, it looked like he had been lit on fire, pitching harder and harder, and putting it right where he wanted it to be.”

But that didn’t stop the steady, unselfish offensive showing as Jefferson slapped out 10 hits, drew 10 walks, and stole nine bases in total.

In the fourth, Cam Copple (2-for-3, RBI) and Montada singled to chase Alonso starting pitcher Dylan DeGusipe (who previously played for Jefferson) from the game after 3 1/3 innings. Matthew Hall worked a double-steal taking home to pad the lead, and Jayden Vazquez and Alejandro Aguilar singled in runs to push the game decisively in the Dragons favor.

Vazquez created havoc on the bases, walking twice as well, stealing three bases and scoring twice.

Alonso (9-9) got some offense going in the fifth as Austin Kirsch wore a pitch from Marroquin, Christopher Morgan singled through the right side, and Eric Duran-Padua finally put the Ravens on the scoreboard with a line drive in to leftfield scoring Kirsch.

But that would be all the damage Marroquin, and his replacement Julian Vargas (1 ip, two strikeouts) would yield.

After dropping a game to district foe Jesuit last week, Dragons head coach Spencer Nunez said he challenged his team to respond with 35 innings of winning baseball in its next three weeks. A mark that could give his team seven more wins and put them in position for state series play under the FHSAA “power” rankings system deciding who advances to region play this year as an at-large bid.
The Dragons proved responsive, taking out seven of those 35 against Chamberlain to end last week.

The lone Alonso run proved a mere bump on the Dragons road to cut those “winning innings” to 21. Copple added an RBI sac fly, an incredible amount of aggressive hustle by runners Benton and Charles Fowler where both scored on the same wild pitch, and Joseph Fritz RBI single pushed the game to the edge.

Alliuq Troupe’s walk and eventual score on a wild pitch ended things early in the sixth.

Alonso junior first baseman Ben Drumheller did make two great plays in the loss, fielding choppers and throwing home for outs, one forced and one allowing catcher Benjamin Kittay time to apply the tag.

Alonso will host Riverview on Thursday, while the Dragons have a road visit to Wharton looking to avenge a 2-1, Saladino loss to the Wildcats from March.

“The same way we did it today, we have to keep that same energy,” Marroquin said. “We have to have that against Wharton on Thursday.”

Jefferson 11
Alonso 1 – six innings

A 000|010|x – |1|5|1
J 111|341|x – |11|10|0
W – Marroquin (5-1); L – DeGusipe (3-3)
Records – A (9-9); J (9-9).