Jones’ grand slam wins extra-inning battle for Titans

Editor’s Note & Correction: This story has been amended noting that a Storm player was called out after singling (and bringing the potential winning run to the plate run in the seventh) by the umpire crew, stating that because the player was not listed as a reserve in the lineup card turned in during the pregame plate meeting, he was called out. This morning 813Preps (via an FHSAA rules committee member) and Chamberlain coach Stephen Martin (speaking with the head of the West Coast Umpire’s Association) both confirmed with multiple sources that no such rule exists. Correction is in red.

By Lily Belcher, Staff Writer

TAMPA  – Luke Jones, Tampa Bay Tech’s junior first baseman, stepped up to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the eighth looking for a walk, maybe a base hit. Then he swung and sent the first homerun of his high school career over the right field fence. His grand slam decided the game in a 17-13 shoot-out between the Titans (4-7) and the Chamberlain Storm.

“I wasn’t really trying to hit it that hard,” he said. “It turned out really good actually.”

His “really good” hit was the deciding factor in Thursday night’s game as Tampa Bay Tech and Chamberlain (3-9) combined for 30 runs, 22 hits and 14 errors in the extra-innings battle.

“He’s a dog, man,” TBT coach Chris Rojo said of Jones. “I mean, pressure on, he doesn’t fold and he kind of lives up to that stuff.”

By the eighth inning, Chamberlain had intentionally walked senior outfielder Mathew Rojas to pitch to Jones. After the game, TBT senior Javion McKay said Rojas was frustrated and told Jones to go hit the ball. And he did just that.

Tampa Bay Tech’s win was a team effort. McKay went 4-for-5 with a walk and two RBI. He scored twice and capitalized on wild pitches and errors by Chamberlain.

“We’ve been hitting the ball kind of bad lately, but today it shows that we’ve been working on it,” McKay said.

Senior outfielder Sadarian Austin, who went 4-for-6, was able to get on base, but advance around the horn off smart, opportunistic base running.

“We had a little ups and downs in our base running today, but then it came through,” he said.

Good team win today
.@proyouthinc @directrecruits @813preps @toppreps @tampabsbl @buncommitted pic.twitter.com/GhAWKZTk2N

— Sadarian Austin (@AustinSadarian) March 22, 2024

Chamberlain committed five errors which led to Titan runners taking extra bases. Tampa Bay Tech’s offense tacked on five stolen bases to help move in runs.

The Titans came out on top by keeping their heads in the game. They came out strong, putting up seven runs in the first inning and holding onto their lead until Chamberlain tied it up in the bottom of the seventh at 13 runs.

Chamberlain substituted senior infielder Joshua Torres to pinch hit in the bottom of the seventh. His single put the potential walk-off run up to bat with no outs, TBT appealed the hit, and asked for clarification saying Torres’s name never made it on the official roster given to the umpires before the game, and the umpires called him out.

Friday morning, Chamberlain head coach Stephen Martin said he spoke with West Coast Umpire Association president, John Rosick, who was apologetic and said he would point it out to all his officials in writing in the days to come. 

Martin said that Chamberlain’s athletic director would report it to the FHSAA, but that vacating the loss was “unlikely.” He added that he was accepting of the apology, but also acknowledged frustration with any win or loss being crucial for district tournament seeding or postseason playoff rankings. 

Obviously, there is no predicting how this would have affected the outcome, but with the decision that was made it was just enough to keep Tampa Bay Tech in it for an extra inning.

Jones said the key was keeping the mood in the dugout light, joking around and capitalizing on their momentum. Tampa Bay Tech tried to capitalize on when Chamberlain would “lose their spirit.”

“We would build on that,” Jones said. “We would use our momentum against them and push through and try to get a hit.”

He said Rojo never scolded them for making errors or mistakes. Rojo explained substitutions and talked with the players rather than yelling. Jones said that has been Rojo’s approach all season.

Rojo said he reminded his team that they scored seven runs in the first inning, to keep their spirits high while Chamberlain tried to stage an ultimately unfruitful comeback.

“It’s a good thing for the boys. It’s good for them as far as their confidence and to just keep going and see how we do against Hillsborough Saturday,” Rojo said.

Tampa Bay Tech will host Hillsborough, while Chamberlain will host King on Saturday.

⚾

Tampa Bay Tech 17, Chamberlain 13 (8)

T 740|001|14 – |17|10|5
C 400|223|20 – |13|11|6
W – Johnson; L – Madrid
2B – Shultz, Rojo (T); Hyde, Madrid, Bourdon (C); 3B – McKay (T); HR – Jones (T). Records – T (4-7); C (3-9).