Blake rallies twice for 12-9 win off TBT
Blake pitcher Ze’Kori Newton held TBT to two earned runs, as the senior kept the Yellow Jackets in the game with five innings and seven strikeouts. Newton also reached base five times, scoring twice and drove in a run as his team won its fifth game of the year – a high water mark for the program in the last decade.
By Jarrett Guthrie, Editor
TAMPA – Blake head coach Herbert Ayers’ smile beamed and his eyes twinkled just a bit Tuesday evening as he repeated a phrase he and his Yellow Jackets are truly taking to heart: “This isn’t the same ol’ Blake Baseball.”
Tuesday night, in a showdown of two programs that have struggled amidst the competitive landscape of Hillsborough County baseball in recent years but have found some success this year, Blake and Tampa Bay Tech wrestled the lead back-and-forth to the end, with the Yellow Jackets scoring a hard-fought, 12-9 win.
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“What I liked about our game tonight is when we got down early,” Ayers said, “in the past we’ve put our heads down, but in the last five, six games, we’ve fought back. I’m proud of this team tonight, and how they’ve played (the second half) of the season.”
Blake’s Victor Mendez slides in with a stolen base under the tag for TBT senior shortstop Javion McKay in the first inning. Mendez was 1-for-4 with a single and scored twice.
The Titans took a quick, two-run lead in the first when speedy leadoff man Javion McKay drew a walk, stole second and eventually scored on a Mathew Rojas sac fly – the first of Rojas’ four RBI in the game – and added a second run on an error.
Tampa Bay Tech senior Mathew Rojas celebrates after driving in one of his four runs in the game.
But the Yellow Jackets responded with four first-inning runs, tying the game when a bobbled ball at second scored Victor Mendez (single) and saw Ze’Kori Newton make his own call to aggressively even the score on the same play. Newton admitted after the game he got caught up in the moment, and though running through the stop sign drew the momentary ire of his head coach, the senior did all he could to get back in the good graces of coach and team. Newton was 2-for-2 with three walks, two RBI and three runs at the plate, while also earning the win on the mound.
Blake senior Ze’Kori Newton breaks out of the box after chopping an infield single in the second inning. Newton was 2-for-2, with three walks and scored twice in the win.
Two passed balls gave the Yellow Jackets a two-run lead after one complete, and Blake would extend that lead in the fourth as Newton, Anthony Mathews (3-for-5, three runs, RBI) and Justin Jackson (2-for-4, two RBI) would each single.
TBT senior Sadarian Austin sends an RBI hit into centerfield in the fifth.
But Tech answered quickly, putting up five in the fifth inning, highlighted by RBI hits from Rojas, Luke Jones (double) and Sadarian Austin to take back the lead.
Titans’ junior Luke Jones claps toward his dugout after his RBI double gives Tech the momentary lead.
But it was short-lived, as Blake hung seven runs starting with a Joaquiel Barrera’s leadoff single and culminating with the senior’s RBI double as he went 3-for-3, with two RBI and a run scored in the win. Barrera, in his first season at Blake, said it has meant a lot to be a part of relaunching this program.
“I feel like I’ve found a family here,” Barrera said, “I’m really proud of Blake, proud of how far we have come, and I’m excited for more.”
Blake senior Joaquiel Barrera doubles in two runs in the fifth inning – the second hit of the frame and his third in the game.
Mathews, who doubled in the big fifth inning, scored what would prove the pivotal 10th run on an errant throw.
“I had a couple of good hits tonight, and definitely wanted to come through for our seniors,” the junior said. “(After TBT took the lead) there was a little frustration, but I felt like I needed to help pick up my team and get the dub.”
Anthony Mathews rounds third, heading for the plate on a fifth-inning Justin Jackson ground ball.
The lead was good enough to reward Newton for his efforts on the mound, where he pitched five complete and struck out seven by mixing in a newly-employed circle-change well and affecting Titan hitter’s reaction to his fastball.
“I just developed that in the last week,” Newton said. “It felt good. It seemed to throw them off-balance and let me come in with a fastball or a curveball for a strike.”
Yellow Jackets head coach Herbert Ayers talks with his battery, senior pitcher Ze’Kori Newton and junior catcher Marcus Smith.
“Talk about being a dog,” Ayers said about Newton. “Kori, being a senior, has been a big part of leading us back in ball games and he was just a stud on that mound tonight.”
Newton moved to short in the six, giving way to Justin Jackson, who closed out the final two innings by holding TBT hitless and allowing two unearned runs.
Justin Jackson pitched two innings of relief for the Yellow Jackets, allowing two unearned runs while holding TBT hitless.
Tech pushed things to the brink, scoring two in the seventh – McKay reaching on a dropped third strike and creating havoc on the bases as Mekhi Johnson scored, and moving all the way to third. McKay would score his third run (and team-leading 18th) on a productive out from Rojas. But that was as close as the Titans could bring it.
Blake’s Elieot Butts started the game at short before moving to second base in the sixth, and made a nice grab on a chopper before throwing for the game’s final out.
In total, six Blake players had hits – including four multi-hit games – a fact Ayers credited to last week’s arrival of a new pitching machine.
“We’ve spent the last week working on the inside pitch with the machine,” Ayers said. “We’ve focused on driving the ball to the left side, while also staying back on the ball because we have faced a lot of off-speed pitches.”
Freshman London Hale shows the ump he still has the ball after Justin Jackson fired in a ball to end the inning on the bases in the fifth.
The game also saw the return of catcher Marcus Smith, who fouled a ball off his face in the first week and missed the next nine after a few days in the hospital. Smith threw out a stealing runner in the first, and nipped a Titans run at the plate, recovering a wild pitch and flipping to Jackson for the final out of the sixth.
“Marcus is the energy and heartbeat of this team,” Ayers said. “When we’re up, he’s up, and when we are down he finds a way to bring us back up. The whole team was excited to see him back out there.”
Xavier Johnson drives a single into right in the first inning and would later score.
The win improves Blake to 5-13 this year, with a Thursday game at Middleton left on the regular season slate, and a district tournament opener against Chamberlain next week. Blake’s five-win mark is the most in more than a decade, when the Yellow Jackers posted a 10-17 season in 2014. This season’s win total matches the combined victories for the program in the last six season – including last year, where the Yellow Jackets were not able to field a team.
“For us to not have a season last year, and to turn around and help Blake have a better name, it means a lot,” Newton said.
Though unable to play games, a core of players spent last spring practicing nearly every day, a summer program saw cohesiveness continue to build, and this year, thanks to some transfers and an influx of young players, Blake has shown its determination to grow something special.
Junior Joseph Hartman gave the Titans some steadying relief, coming on in the first inning, but ran into trouble in the fifth. He finished with five runs allowed, but struck out five in his 3 2/3 innings.
In the other dugout, Tampa Bay Tech entered the season in a bit of chaos as Chris Rojo took over as head coach just a week prior to the start of the season after Garrett Thompson took the head job at his alma mater Riverview.
In response, the Titans close the regular season 6-17 – its best record since going 7-17 nine seasons ago. The opportunity to match that mark, and continue this season, comes in Monday’s district tournament opener at Leto.
Victor Mendez singled in the first and scored the first of his two runs.
⚾
Blake 12, Tampa Bay Tech 9
T 200|050|2 – |9|6|3
B 400|170|x – |12|11|3
W – Newton; L – Hartman
2B – Jones (T); Mathews, Barrera (B). Records – T (6-17); B (5-13).
