Bottom of the lineup puts Alonso over Plant
Senior Keenan Rutledge leaps in celebration after scoring the first run for Alonso on a single from Sammy Fernandez.
By Jarrett Guthrie, Editor
RUSKIN – Success in the Saladino Tournament often means a total-team effort must be given to see a squad make it to the championship round. Through two pool-play games for Alonso, the predictable parts have done the job – good pitching, solid defense – but the edge in a pair of wins has come from the bottom third of the lineup.
After taking down Tampa Catholic in Saturday’s opener, the Ravens took to the field at Lennard to face the defending tournament champion Plant Panthers, and again, took a 5-3 victory.
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That previously mentioned edge got going in the second inning as Keenan Rutledge (who drove in the winning run from the 7-hole on Saturday, before moving up to the fifth spot in the lineup on Monday) reached on a fielder’s choice. The Ravens would put two aboard and No. 8 hitter Sammy Fernandez would slap the first of his two hits into left field to get the scoring started.
“I was looking for a good pitch to hit, and I found it right down the middle,” Fernandez said. “We went up early and that is what you have to do against a team like that.”
Ravens sophomore Sammy Fernandez hones in on a fastball, driving in the game’s first run with a single.
Similarly, just two pitches later, Juan Munoz was on the hunt for a middle fastball and got one, finding the right-center gap driving in two more as Alonso jumped out to an early lead.
“I saw it right down the middle,” he said, “and just put it to the gap.”
After the two, two-out, run-producing hits, Plant (4-3) called on righty Trey Gonzalez to stop further damage, and he did so with a ground ball out to third base on his first pitch.
Alonso senior ace BJ Rivera looked in solid form, going the distance in the win, allowing three unearned runs on four hits and one walk, while striking out six. Commanding five pitches, the High Point signee worked his changeup regularly and finished off hitters with his nasty yakker.
Alonso starting pitcher BJ Rivera delivers a pitch.
“The changeup has been my go-to the past couple of games, but my pitch to get out has always been my slider,” he said. “That’s what I like to do.”
The Panthers drew the game a little closer in the third, capitalizing on a rushed throw from Rivera on a Trey Freeman bunt. The ball went rolling down the fence line down the right field side, as Freeman motored around sliding headfirst into third base. Cash Strayer’s ground ball to the right side got Plant on the board.
Plant senior Trey Freeman slides into third base after reaching on a three-base error.
“I know that when (Plant) gets momentum, they are the type of team that feeds off of that,” Rivera said. “I just tried to keep them off in their timing and work fast when they had runners on base. Limiting their momentum as much as possible was what helped us today.”
In comparison Gonzalez was a steadying influence on the mound for the next two scoreless innings, despite a scary moment in the game where a line drive returned screamingly to the mound. Gonzalez narrowly escaped serious injury getting his elbow up to partially block the ball, which hit his head then popped into the air for Freeman to make an out catch at shortstop.
Panthers senior Trey Gonzalez.
But the fifth inning brought around the bottom of the order and trouble for the Panthers, as Fernandez quickly roped a double to right. From there a mental lapse with just one runner aboard as Munoz ground ball went to the Panthers third baseman, who ran to tag his base. Before he realized there was no force, Munoz had raced down the line, reaching on a fielder’s choice. Christopher Morgan made that hurt, following with an RBI single and the Ravens padded the lead scoring the fifth run on a double-play ball.
Rivera worked around a Strayer single and a Jack Meade double in the fifth, and a hit batter in the sixth. In the seventh, two-straight errors put runners aboard for the Panthers before Rivera got a groundout and his final strikeout. However, Robert Satin’s two-RBI double brought the game close with the tying run at the plate, but that was all the generosity the righty had in him, finishing things off with a groundout to second.
The win puts Alonso (5-2) in the driver’s seat in Pool A with a pair of wins and Tuesday evening’s showdown with host Lennard on deck.
Juan Munoz stands on top of second base after driving in a pair in the second inning.
For Munoz, the Ravens can enjoy the hot tourney start, but he knows there can’t be any letdown for his team to advance to Wednesday’s semifinal as the pool winner.
“A 2-0 start in the Saladino Tournament is really good,” Munoz said, “but we have to keep playing really hard with a big game tomorrow. That will be (like playing) the first game of this tournament again, we have to hit, pitch and do everything (we) can on the field.”
Plant will face Tampa Catholic on Tuesday at 4 pm from Lennard.
Alonso senior Ben Drumheller makes a sliding snag on a ball to end the fifth inning with two in scoring position.
Alonso 5, Plant 3
A 030|002|0 – |5|4|3
P 001|000|2 – |3|4|0
W – Rivera (2-2); L – Hawks (1-2)
2B – Munoz, Fernandez (A); Meade, Satin (P). Records – A (5-2); P (4-3).
