Newsome skirts by Plant in region quarterfinal

By Jarrett Guthrie, Editor

SOUTH TAMPA – Two aces gave it all on the field. Two power-hitting seniors gave their teams a shot. A game of flawless back-and-forth came down to a tied game in the seventh inning in Tuesday’s Class 7A-Region 2 quarterfinal from Wade Boggs Field, when Plant’s defense blinked and senior Joseph DiPietro stepped up with runners on the corners.

Click here for this game’s photo gallery.

Two infield errors put a runner ninety feet away for DiPietro. His goal – a strength for the Wolves this season – go the other way, and he took little time to accomplish his desired result taking a hack at the first pitch he saw, driving it to right field and bringing home pinch runner Kaden Aguiar, sealing Newsome’s 2-1 win.

“I was literally just thinking about hitting it the other way,” DiPietro said. “We do it all the time in practice, our coaches harp on it, just hit the other way.

“I saw the infield in, I was able to put it into the outfield for a sac fly and win this game.”

Wolves senior Joseph DiPietro smacks this RBI sac fly to right, putting Newsome ahead in the seventh inning. 

An hour-and-a-half earlier it was fellow Wolves senior Braden Moon who got the game started in exciting fashion. Moments before walking out to the on-deck circle, the Florida Tech signee told his coaches his plan was to send the first pitch he saw on a ride. A hanging cutter left high by Plant senior pitcher Garrett Hill fit perfectly into the plan, as Moon smoked a two-out shot over the fence in left for his seventh homer of the season.

“I knew he was gonna spin me one, and I just sat on it,” Moon said. “He just hung it a little too in.

“My eyes were huge. We had a gameplan ever since we found out we were playing Plant, I felt like he was gonna spin me one first pitch. It’s all I’ve been thinking about.”

Braden Moon starts his swing on his first-inning home run.

Hill, who had struck out the first two he faced, finished the inning with his third punchout and absolutely dealt the rest of the way. The University of Tampa baseball signee, held the Wolves to just three hits, issued no walks and struck out nine in a superb final outing for the Panthers.

“Sadly, I think the one cutter he threw was the worst pitch he had all game,” Plant skipper Dennis Braun said. “… but after that, he had all his stuff. He spotted it up. We’ve been watching that from him all year.”

Plant senior Garrett Hill pitched all seven frames, allowing one earned on three hits, and struck out nine. 

His counterpart on the mound, Newsome (21-6) ace Wade Walton started the game with a walk – just his 11thin 60-plus innings this year – and looked slightly off in the first inning. By inning two, the High Point signee found his groove fanning the side, before working around five hits in his complete-game effort – punctuating the win with his eighth strikeout.

“I actually came in this game a little tired, a little congested,” Walton said. “I wasn’t feeling my best, but, hey, it’s a playoff game, so I had to deliver.”

Newsome senior ace Wade Walton allowed one run and struck out eight.

Walton’s lone blemish was a mistake to Plant (19-8) senior Rocco DeMarinis, who tattooed a leadoff homer in the sixth to left field for his sixth of the year. Last year, the Wolves season ended in the district final as soon-to-be collegiate teammate Noah Morales went yard on the then-junior in a 2-1 loss. After Tuesday’s game, Walton was pleased with the win, but lamented allowing the dinger to yet another High Point signee and his future roommate, DeMarinis.

“Rocco is going to be my roommate next year,” Walton said, shaking his head while smiling. “For the second-straight year a High Point commit homered off me in the playoffs.”

Plant senior Rocco DeMarinis points to the heavens after his sixth-inning solo home run.

This time, no doubt, the win will soothe the sting of the big fly from a future college teammate.
Aside from the home run, Walton (9-1) left seven Plant runners in scoring position – including a runner at second to end the game.

“Wade just has the best confidence around,” his battery-mate Moon, said. “When we went out there to talk to him he said, ‘I don’t care, I’ll get the next one.’ And that’s what he did.”

Plant senior James Leach lined this double to center in the fourth inning.

Braun, wrapping up his 20th season at the helm for the Panthers, said he’d hoped DeMarinis’ homer would swing momentum in his team’s favor.

“Obviously, when Rocco hit that home run, I thought it might take a little longer, but I figured we’d get there,” Braun said. “I tell these guys every game, as long as we can get the tying run in scoring position, we can usually get things done. We’ve been pretty good at that the last three years, (it) just didn’t happen tonight.”

Rocco DeMarinis watches his solo home run sail. 

⚾

Panthers head coach Dennis Braun (left) talks strategy pregame with starting pitcher Garrett Hill and catcher James Leach.

The Panthers coach said the loss stings especially for his nine seniors, led by DeMarinis, Hill and second baseman Tanner Swank – who helped the Panthers claim two district titles in three years, and make back-to-back runs to Fort Myers and the 7A state tournament (including last year’s runner-up finish).

“We talked about it on senior night, these guys probably had the best run here since 1988 (when Plant won the 3A state title) – Rocco, Swank, they’ve been playing here forever.

“They’ve been catalysts, been there for us, and have seen a lot of great results. I think these seniors leave this place a lot better than they found it – I can’t say enough about them.”

Tanner Swank, a three-year varsity starter, was 1-for-3 with a line-drive single in the seventh.

Swank (a FGCU signee) ends his time as a Panther with a career .319 average, 40 runs and 41 RBI, DeMarinis ends his time at Plant with a .310 average, 10 homers and 44 RBI, and Hill closes his high school book with a 12-5 record, a 1.86 ERA and 81 strikeouts.

Wolves shortstop Anthony DeVito hauls in a catch in the first. The junior had two of Newsome’s three hits in the win.

A season ago, despite a 16-10 record and a district semifinal dismantling of region qualifier Winter Haven, Newsome was held out of the FHSAA unexplained rankings for the region playoffs – Moon said the team has fed off that and embraced an underdog mentality despite large amounts of success.

“We’ve been underdogs all year, and it’s huge the way we’ve come together as a team,” he said. “I feel like all these other teams think they deserve to be here, but we’ve fought to be here.”

Kaden Aguiar slides home, scoring the deciding run on Joseph DiPietro’s RBI sac fly.

Walton echoed that: “It means a ton to every single one of us. We all deserve to be here, we’re one of the hardest-working teams and we’ve earned every ounce of this.”

Newsome’s win earns the Wolves another stern challenge as the team travels south on Friday for a showdown with 25-3 Venice – winners 9-0 against Winter Haven.

⚾ Class 7A-Region 2 ⚾

Newsome 2, Plant 1

N 100|000|1 – |2|3|0
P 000|001|0 – |1|5|3
W – Walton (9-1); L – Hill (7-3)
2B – Leach (P); HR – Moon (N); DeMarinis (P). Records – N (21-6); P (19-8).

Categories

Archives