Sumner’s historic Year Two ends in loss to Seminole
Sumner senior Jayden Brown on the mound for the Stingrays first-ever region tournament appearance (photo by Lily Belcher).
By Lily Belcher
Correspondent
RIVERVIEW – Sumner hosted its first region tournament game in the program’s history Tuesday night in a match against the Seminole Warhawks. While the Warhawks will advance to the semifinals after their 4-1 victory, Sumner’s region appearance marked a historic milestone for the school.
“I’m really proud that they have come around in the sense that they’ve come together in such a short time to do what they’ve done,” said Sumner head coach Kennedy Duran. “I’m very proud of them and in the way they’ve given me everything they have.”
Sumner (9-13) started one of their nine seniors, pitcher Jayden Brown, who tossed five innings, with three strikeouts against Seminole (17-11). Brown kept the Warhawks bats silent through the first three innings, but Seminole chipped away at Sumner’s defense to drive in four runs in the fourth. A two-out walk to Evan Miller followed by an RBI double by Cameron Cooper scored the first run of the game. Two errors by Sumner’s outfield allowed Seminole to extend their lead to four runs.
Sumner fought back, keeping the Warhawks from scoring another run over the final three innings. The Stingrays picked up their first region run in the program’s history with an RBI single by senior Jason Rivera, driving in fellow senior Rocco Vincent from third.
After the loss, Brown was disappointed in the outcome, but also able to take stock in helping launch the Stingrays program to early success.
“It feels really good knowing the impact I’ve had on this team knowing that this is my last year,” said Brown. “We won a district championship, we made history. That’s all we could ever ask for.”
Sumner’s final game of the season marked the first postseason appearance for Kennedy Duran as coach of the Stingrays. Duran founded the program last year for his group of young ball players. He transferred to Sumner after 14 years with Lennard High School, where he had founded the baseball team in Ruskin as well.
“Starting a program, especially with a worldwide pandemic, hasn’t been easy,” admitted Duran. “… Bringing kids from different walks of life together has been tough.”
His leadership has been showcased both in the stats on the diamond and in the hearts of the athletes he has mentored in just two years.
“He is an amazing coach,” said Brown about Duran. “… He is the man. He cares about you 100% of the time. He wants the best for them no matter what and he loves everyone on the field. He’s just the best.”
Seminole will play Jesuit in the regional semifinals on Thursday at 7pm at Hyde Family Park.
⚾ Class 5A-Region 2 Qtr ⚾
Seminole 4
Sumner 1
Se 000|400|0 – |4|6|0
Su 000|001|0 – |1|6|2
W – Saunders (7-1); L – Brown (2-4); S – Hoffman (2)
2B – Summers, Cooper (Se). Records – Se (17-11); Su (9-13).
