Jesuit mashes five dingers to claim region title
Jesuit senior AJ Nessler is mobbed at the plate after his first inning grand slam (photos by Jess Zanca).
By Jarrett Guthrie
Editor
TAMPA – It seemed only two people in the whole of Hyer Family Park that agreed an up-and-in fastball missed hitting the right shoulder of Jesuit batter AJ Nessler in the first inning of Monday’s Class 5A-Region 2 final – one was the home plate umpire, who waved off the Tigers senior’s claim that the pitch clipped his front arm. The other was Jesuit head coach Miguel Menendez, who appeared on his way to the plate to argue the no-call.
Instead Menendez walked toward Nessler and said, “that did NOT hit you,” and returned to the dugout telling his assistant coaches to watch what came next.
“I told him, ‘don’t worry, that didn’t hit you,’ and then I said ‘you are going to hit the next one into the trees,” the coach said. “I wish I could pick the lotto numbers with that kind of confidence. I just knew, the way he’s been swinging it, he’s been the catalyst for everything we’ve done.”
The trees were exactly where the Pitt signee sent the next offering, blasting a grand slam over the wall in right field.
And, it wasn’t even the first home run of the game, or the second as Jesuit smashed through visiting St. Petersburg Hollins 16-1 in four innings behind five homers and 11 hits, to earn the Tigers 22nd trip to the state final four in Fort Myers on Thursday.
“Everyone in the park knew (it hit me),” Nessler said. “But I was very pleased. It was almost like it was meant to happen. If they are going to give me another opportunity to get a big hit, I’m not complaining.”
Junior Jake Kulikowski stomps on home plate after his two-run home run kicked off the Tigers 16-run night (photo by Jess Zanca).
The night’s first home run belonged to junior Jake Kulikowski, who sent the first offering he saw out to right field to give Jesuit (22-8) all the runs needed with a two-run shot. Grant Jordan would double the Tigers lead a few hitters later with his first home run of his high school career.
The duo wouldn’t be content there, each adding a second home run to their tallies.
Asked if he’d ever had a two-homer game, Jordan was very matter-of-fact: “Not even close. But today I was comfortable at the plate, seeing the ball well, and we were all just so ready to play.”
Jesuit junior Grant Jordan hit his first two varsity home runs on Monday (photo by Jess Zanca).
Kulikowski, who led off the second with another line-drive homer to right and ended the night early with an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, has now homered in three-straight as Jesuit has outscored opponents 55-5 since the beginning of the district tournament.
“We’re heating up at the right time,” said Kulikowski, who had just two regular-season homers. “I think I was trying to do a little too much early this year, and now I’m just keeping it simple. Our team, the whole team, has been hitting incredibly well.”
“Since the playoff started,” Nessler said, “there is just a different type of energy from our entire team. We are all locked in, and I love it.”
The offensive output also afforded Jesuit an added boon in allowing the Tigers to lift starting pitcher Jamie Arnold after just 35 pitches, and three hitless innings with three strikeouts. That could prove pivotal as Jesuit has a quick turnaround this week, playing in the FHSAA state semifinal game on Thursday.
Jesuit senior starting pitcher Jamie Arnold (photo by Jess Zanca).
Hollins (21-7-1) picked up its first hit in the fourth inning when Ryland Bozenhard sent a screaming ball down the leftfield line, which caromed off the pole and jumped over a charging defender allowing the junior to settle in for a double. Jacob Green followed with a single, and Joshua Castellani ended the shutout with a fourth-inning RBI sac fly.
Jesuit got a pair of hits from Josh Hines, including an RBI double, while Jack Martinez was 1-for-3, with a double and a walk, with two runs and two RBI, and Wes Mendes also scored twice.
The Tigers are slated for a 1 p.m. start on Thursday in the FHSAA 5A semifinal, and will face Naples (22-9), which upset the top-ranked Class 5A team and No. 2 overall-ranked Plantation American Heritage, 4-2 on Monday. Thursday’s other 5A semifinal will feature Melbourne Eau Gallie facing off against Lake City Columbia at 4 p.m.
⚾ Class 5A-Region 2 Final ⚾
Jesuit 16
St. Pete Hollins 1
H 000|1xx|x – |1|2|0
J 820|6xx|x – |16|11|0
W – Arnold (6-3); L – Bozenhard (7-3)
2B – Bozenhard (H); Martinez, Hines (J); HR – Kulikowski 2, Jordan 2, Nessler (J). Records – H (21-7-1); J (22-8).
