Rowland deals in 1-0 shutout for Durant
Durant junior Blaine Rowland struck out six in a complete-game shutout (813Preps file photo).
By Brett Goodrich, Correspondent
PLANT CITY – Durant punched its ticket to the class 7A-District 6 championship game as Blaine Rowland was dominant on the mound in the 1-0 victory over Strawberry Crest.
Opposite Rowland, Luke Richardson took the ball for the Chargers and was equally as impressive on the bump in this classic pitcher’s duel – which seems to have become a trend for these two. The last times the two squared off on April 20th, the Chargers came out victorious in extras.
Tuesday night, the pair of righties combined for 21-straight outs to start the game until the bottom of the fourth, when Durant junior Nick April-Gath was able to reach on an infield single towards short. The baserunner was quickly erased by Crest’s senior backstop, Damien Bennett, throwing the runner out at second on an attempted steal.
The Chargers repeated this sequence in the top of the fifth as Zachary Redner reached on a tailing liner to left field, but was eliminated on a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out by Cougar catcher Dylan LaPointe to end the inning.
Durant’s Pete Oderio (left) and Blaine Rowland.
Richardson was in control most of the night. However, in the fifth junior Carlos Morales started the inning with a base hit that squeaked by the third baseman’s outstretched glove. Rowland moved him over on a well-executed sacrifice bunt up the first base line. And on a first-pitch fastball with two outs, Cougar first baseman Pete Oderio delivered an RBI single to left field, which would prove to be the game winning run.
“He [Richarson] was pounding the zone all night, so with two outs I was trying to shorten up and not trying to do too much,” Oderio said. “I knew he was attacking the zone and I was expecting a fastball and got one up that I could handle.”
Singles from April-Gath and Devin Suero in the sixth, chased Richardson from the mound after 5 1/3 innings, five hits and two strikeouts, as the Chargers turned to Redner in relief. The senior, Redner, worked the final two outs, hitting one batter and striking out one.
The Chargers got singles from Arjun and Akhil Nimmala in the final frame, but Rowland worked around the traffic and finished off his complete-game, four-hit shutout while retiring six chargers on strikes and only face three over the minimum on 84 pitches.
“I was trying to attack the zone,” Rowland said. “I knew they would be coming out swinging since they just saw me two weeks ago.”
Mixing his pitches well and throwing them for strikes was key for this University of Florida commit to have a successful night.
Durant will host Newsome (winners, 11-0 against No. 1-seed Winter Haven last night) on Thursday night for the district championship bout. The series between the two teams is split this year, both teams winning at home.
⚾ 7A-6 Semifinal ⚾
#3 Durant 1, #9 Strawberry Crest 0
S 000|000|0 – |0|4|0
D 000|010|x – |1|5|0
W – Rowland (5-1); L – Richardson (6-2)
Records – S (17-7); D (17-5).
