Ravens rally with five runs, walk-off win over Steinbrenner
Alonso players wait on junior Samuel Fernandez to step on home plate after his three-run blast brought the Ravens to within a run in the seventh inning. Alonso would send eight hitters to the plate in the final inning and take a 5-4 victory in Monday’s Class 7A-District 7 quarterfinal.
By Jarrett Guthrie, Editor
TAMPA – For six innings Alonso had no answer for Steinbrenner senior pitcher Cayden Hessemyer and the Warriors defense. But rather than hang their head when a close call didn’t go their way early and allowed Steinbrenner to take a three-run lead, the Ravens’ players hung in there, and then hung a five-spot in their final at-bats to steal a 5-4, Class 7A-District 7 quarterfinal win.
“Those last at-bats, we just had to relax,” Ravens junior Samuel Fernandez said. “I knew I had this whole team behind me, so if I could do a job, I knew we could get a rally going.”
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Alonso’s Daniel Despaine coasts into second with a double in the seventh inning.
That Alonso (13-12) rally started with Carson Vega (2-for-3) beating out an infield single to start the home-seventh, and Daniel Despaine lining a double to left to put two in scoring position to bring up Fernandez.
“With two runners on I was just looking for my pitch,” Fernandez said. “I was looking to do something to get at least one run in, stay as relaxed as possible and do my job.”
Steinbrenner senior Cayden Hessemyer pitched six-plus innings.
He watched two balls from Hessemyer miss before he got his pitch, and unloaded on ball in the middle of the zone, sending a three-run homer to right field to bring the Ravens to within a run.
“I was just trying to get a deep fly ball to bring him in,” he said. “But I got my pitch and it went out.”
Lift Off: Alonso’s Samuel Fernandez sends this 2-0 offering deep to right field and it skirts the fence for a three-run homer.
“You love to see it from a beautiful person like him,” Ravens head coach Landy Faedo said. “Samuel is a great person, always picks the team up, does what he’s asked, and does it with kindness. And he really pumped new life into us with that one there.”
Vega, who had returned to third to tag up, knew the depth would bring him in, but was thrilled to watch Fernadez’s ball sail.
“I saw the ball off the bat and I was like, ‘okay, we’re tagging,’ but the left fielder kept going back, and kept going back, and when I saw his head turn I thought there was no way,” Vega said. “(Samuel) is a crazy hitter who has come through for us a bunch of times this year, once it went over the whole team got a flood of adrenaline.”
Carson Vega (2-for-3) dives into third base in the seventh inning.
After turning a pair of double plays behind their pitcher, the Warriors defense faltered in the final inning, committing three errors the first allowing Landon Nunez to reach on a sac bunt, before Bryan Alonso singled to right, only to have an ill-advised throw toward third go wide and allow pinch-runner Johnny Rodriguez to score the tying run, and the third error on a ground ball from Maikol Madueno to third base, where the ball was bobbled in the transfer twice, allowed Nunez to slide in for the walk-off win.
Alonso pinch-runner Johnny Rodriguez books it to third as an ill-advised throw comes toward the base and sails, allowing Rodriguez to tie the game on an error.
“It was a frustrating game and it could’ve ended our season right there,” Ravens junior Bryan Alonso said. “We had no luck, no luck at all, but we stayed in this and when momentum changed we knew we had practiced for this moment.”
Bryan Alonso drives a double to right field.
Vega, whose was erased on one of those two Warrior double-plays, admitted the offense was a bit frustrated to not be able to figure out Hessemyer early. But the senior knew the Ravens had a chance to change that in the final inning, and he was ready to start things off.
“I was just thinking, ‘just get on base. Whatever you have to do,’” he said. “That was a big spot, and the second I hit that ball, I just booked it to first base – anything to help my team get started.”
Warriors senior Aiden Carew had two hits and scored a run.
Steinbrenner (12-13) took the lead in the third inning as Aiden Carew (2-for-3) led off with an infield single deep toward the right side, and after an out, Carew moved to third on a hit-and-run that saw the umpire call Jorge Romero safe with a bunt single.
Steinbrenner’s Jorge Romero was ruled safe on this call and the Warriors scored three runs in the inning afterward.
The decision seemed to rattle Alonso starting pitcher Vincent Antuna a bit, and Hessemyer capitalized, working the 2-0 count in his favor before sending and RBI double to center.
Steinbrenner senior Cayden Hessemyer connects on an RBI double in the third inning.
A dropped-third strike/wild pitch allowed the lead to stretch a run, and Dominic Sardegna produced another run on a groundout.
Steinbrenner’s Dominic Sardegna squared up this pitch to drive in a run with a ground ball to third.
Antuna would gather himself and strike out a batter with a runner at third to stop the rally.
Alonso starter Vincent Antuna pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing four runs (one earned) and struck out seven in a no-decision.
The Warriors added another run on an error in the fourth, but Antuna (4 2/3 innings, eight hits, one earned run, one walk and seven strikeouts) left a pair in scoring position with a strikeout.
“(Vincent) came in after that (three-run) inning frustrated, but he was able to get out of it,” Faedo said. “But he never hurt himself walking guys and threw strikes, which is all we can ask.”
Despite the two run-scoring innings, the Warriors let a number of chances to extend the lead slip away. In the fifth, Austin Liss and Noah Fowler both hit two-out singles, followed by two balls to the next batter, which chased Antuna from the game. But new pitcher Julian Batista ended that threat with a strikeout.
Julian Batista worked 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win for Alonso.
Carew and Kelton Meares singled to start the sixth, but Carew was caught on the bases and two groundouts ended the inning with no damage done. The Warriors ran into an unforced out at third in the seventh before Batista added two more strikeouts to bring his offense to the plate.
“Julian did a great job coming in,” Faedo said. “We didn’t have him at the beginning of the year, so he’s just starting to get those innings up, this his third or fourth good appearance for us at the end of the year.”
Steinbrenner SS Kelton Meares was solid on defense, including being the middle part of this double-play in the fourth inning.
The ugly inning spoiled a strong outing from Hessemyer, who returned to the mound for the seventh with just 52 pitches thrown. But the Alonso offense would not be denied, sending eight straight to the plate without an out for the walk-off win.
Ravens senior Landon Nunez slides in safely, scoring the winning run.
Alonso will continue on in the 7A-7 tournament when the Ravens visit top-seeded Palm Harbor (15-7) Tuesday afternoon for a semifinal game. Alonso hopes for some revenge on the Hurricanes, which handed the Ravens a 5-3 loss in early March.
Ravens CF Raymond Llanes hauls in a catch.
⚾ Class 7A-7 Quarterfinal ⚾
Alonso 5, Steinbrenner 4
S 000|310|0 – |4|9|2
A 000|000|5 – |5|9|4
W – Batista (1-1); L – Hessemyer (2-6)
2B – Hessemyer (S); Despaine, Alonso (A); HR – Fernandez (A). Records – S (12-13); A (13-12).
