Plant City breaks through late as errors hurt Lennard
Plant City senior Colin Pellicer celebrates from second base after a double. Pellicer drove in his team’s first run on a single as the Raiders defeated Lennard to start Saladino Tournament play.
By Jarrett Guthrie, Editor
RUSKIN – You can only tempt fate so many times, before she bites you.
Through five innings of Saturday’s Saladino Tournament Gold Division game, Plant City just couldn’t find the big hit that would allow them to get the advantage on a young Lennard defense that struggled mightily throughout.
Lennard right fielder Logan Teeden runs down a ball near the fence.
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But trailing by a run late in the game, the Raiders continued to apply pressure, and finally, made Longhorns’ errors – the fifth and sixth for Lennard in the game – hurt, scoring three seventh-inning runs and rallying for a 4-2 victory.
“It was never a concern or panic, but it did start to creep into our minds when we just didn’t score,” Raiders senior Colin Pellicer said. “We just had to keep playing hard, doing what we do. We are a scrappy team this year, we’re very young, and we just have guys who are going to do a job.”
Drew Cothren drops down a sac bunt in the seventh, but hustles down to reach on an error, and would eventually score the deciding run.
After a hit batter started the seventh, Drew Cothren reached on an error on his sac bunt effort to move the runner, a walk followed before Logan Teeden sent a ground ball to short only to have the bases loaded throw to the plate go wide of the catcher and score two. Parker Scott’s RBI ground ball a few batters later would add some insurance and seal the Raiders (4-3) victory.
“This is a young team and they’re learning how to fight back,” Fryrear said. “We’re the underdogs – that’s sort of our mentality this year – and you have to fight every pitch. Logan Teeden comes up there and barrels it, puts the ball in play and we made things happen.”
Plant City senior Aiden Bean comes to the plate as a throw into the plate sails away from Lennard C Mikey Locke.
Lennard (3-4) would take advantage of some sloppy Plant City play in the home-first, as Mattie Counts singled and scored on an error on the throw-in after a RJ Torres single into right.
RJ Torres sent a single out to right field and the throw into the infield was mishandled allowing a run to score
Cole Montgomery would follow with a single moving Torres to third. Montgomery would steal second, and head toward third on what looked like a routine ground ball to third base. However, Scott didn’t throw to first for the force out, as Montgomery played cat-and-mouse long enough for Torres to scamper home before the runner was tagged out to end the inning.
Colin Pellicer drives in his team’s first run with this RBI single.
The two early runs would be the only allowed in an impressive start from Plant City freshman Matt Werner, as the young righty struck out eight in his six-inning performance.
“I always joke with him, that people are going to find out about him in a hurry,” Plant City head coach Mike Fryrear said. “… A freshman that’s 6-foot-4, throwing mid-80s, we couldn’t ask for a better present to the Plant City Raiders. He’s going to be a dominating force for the next four years.”
Freshman righty Matt Werner delivers a pitch. Werner would work six innings, allowing just two unearned runs and struck out eight.
Scott would get some redemption with the RBI, and finish the game off with a nice rangy play on a chopper, throwing for the final out.
“We have to be pesky, even on defense making the routine plays, just like Parker Scott to end the game,” Fryrear said. “We’ve trained these young guys to be resilient all fall, and it paid off today.”
Raiders sophomore third baseman Parker Scott makes a throw to first base.
“We came together, took walks, picked up some hits put the ball in play and got on base,” Werner said, “and finally made things happen.”
Werner pounded the strike zone, allowing just three more hits the rest of the way, en route to his second win of the season and a strong showing in his Saladino debut. When he found out he was getting the opening game nod, he said he was excited for the opportunity.
“I was locked in,” he said. “I was ready to go. I started off alright, but by the second inning I was filling it up, seeing what they were seeing and hitting, and I started hitting the outside part (of the plate) and they couldn’t hit it.”
Longhorns senior Mattie Counts was 2-for-3 with a run scored in the loss.
The Raiders put two runners in scoring position in each of the first three innings, but Longhorns sophomore Talan Miranda clamped down and kept his team in the lead with inning-ending strikeouts each time.
“Talan is a guy,” Pellicer said of the Longhorns starting pitcher. “He’s definitely a guy … he is an arm you need to be worried about, he mixes his pitches well, changes your eye level. He’s just knows how to pitch. He’s a young guy, but for the next year or two he’s gonna have teams worried.”
Lennard sophomore hurler Talan Miranda struck out eight in a four-inning no-decision.
Miranda, who worked four innings in a no-decision while striking out eight, finally got tagged with a run in the fourth when Hagen Keen singled, stole a base and scored on an RBI single from Pellicer (2-for-5, with a double).
“It was hard, getting base runners on every inning and not coming through,” Pellicer said. “So, when I had a chance, I had to break it open and take the top off with that first run. Then late the wheels fell off for them and I couldn’t be more appreciative about that.”
Longhorns reliever Landon Wilder had five strikeouts in the loss.
Lennard reliever Logan Wilder worked around runners in scoring position in the fifth and sixth, striking out five, but the errors in the seventh were insurmountable as the senior was tagged with the loss.
With the lead in hand, freshman lefty Hunter Carbaugh finished things out for the Raiders, striking out two in his 1-2-3 seventh inning on the mound to earn the save.
Freshman Hunter Carbaugh celebrates the final out, picking up the save with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
Sebastian Rojas was 2-for-3 with a double in the loss for the Longhorns, and sophomore pitcher JV Brennick picked up the final two outs of the top-half of the seventh.
Junior Sebastian Rojas connects on one of his two hits in the game.
Plant City will face Gaither (which dropped an 18-2 game against Sickles in the site’s early game) on Monday from Lennard at 4pm; while the Longhorns will face the Gryphons Monday night at 7pm.
Raiders first baseman Wellington Hehn receives the throw from Parker Scott for the game’s final out.
Plant City 4, Lennard 2
P 000|100|3 – |4|5|1
L 200|000|0 – |2|6|6
W – Werner (2-0); L – Wilder; S – H. Carbaugh (1)
2B – Pellicer (P); Rojas (L); . Records – P (4-3); L (3-4).
