Mulberry applies steady pressure in region win at Jefferson
Mulberry senior Cooper Wright jumps in celebration as he scores on the Hayden Wyatt single into left. Wright was 1-for-3 with a walk and scored twice as the Panthers defeated Jefferson in the Class 4A-Region 3 quarterfinals.
By Jarrett Guthrie, Editor
TAMPA – Mulberry threw Jefferson a pregame curve as the Dragons expected to see Panthers junior Jaden Sweeney take the mound. But the visiting team had a different strategy in mind, as Mulberry put the ball in the hand of senior Alex Fisher, who though he didn’t throw an actual curveball, relied heavily on two pitches to keep the Dragons offense off-kilter, limited damage, and depended on a strong defense to leave West Tampa with a 9-3 win in the Class 4A-Region 3 quarterfinals.
“My slider-fastball combo was really working,” Fisher said. “I have a changeup, but they couldn’t touch the slider as much as they probably wanted to. So, I stuck with those two pitches and it worked out.”
View more photos from this game here.
Before Fisher threw his first pitch though, Mulberry (17-9) spotted him an early edge, as a leadoff walk from Dragons ace Mikey Marroquin came around to hurt when an error at third base allowed Cooper Wright to motor around from first base.
A throw sails just out of the reach of Jefferson senior first baseman Cameron Copple, allowing the first Mulberry run of the game to score.
Marroquin worked around the defensive miscue to strand a runner at third, by striking out the next two in the frame, and retiring the Panthers in order in the second.
Mulberry junior Nic Partridge drives an RBI double to the fence in right.
But Mulberry kept applying pressure scoring in the third on an RBI double from junior and Florida commit Nic Partridge (2-for-3, two runs), and stretching out the lead the next inning when Noah Campbell (2-for-4, two runs, RBI) tripled and scored on a single from Sweeney (3-for-4, three RBI).
“The dude’s (Marroquin) slider was really good and he was getting out early (in counts), but his fastball wasn’t really doing that well,” Partridge said. “He hung one 0-2 and I had to sit on it and it worked really well.”
Jefferson ace Mikey Marroquin finishes his senior season 9-2.
Marroquin worked five innings, falling to 9-2 on the season, allowing six earned on 10 hits and striking out four.
Jefferson (18-9) cut into the lead in the home-fourth with some solid two-out approaches as Ja’Marques Benton singled, followed by a walk and hit batter to load the bases, before CJ Padilla watched four-straight balls from to bring home a run.
Dragons junior Ja’Marques Benton jogs home as CJ Padilla heads to first on an RBI walk.
After a flyout prevented further damage and left the bases loaded, the Panthers players were met by their coaches in front of the dugout with a challenge to answer that run.
And answer they did.
Noah Campbell celebrates his triple in the fourth inning.
Mulberry put up four runs on six hits with RBI from Hayden Wyatt, Brock Thielen, Campbell, and Sweeney before the Dragons could catch a breath.
“They scored that run there and we all came together and said we had to get it back,” Partridge said. “We added a couple more, some insurance runs, and we definitely needed to do that.”
Mulberry senior starting pitcher Alex Fisher.
Fisher was certainly grateful for the breathing room.
“These boys do their job,” Fisher said, “and any time they put runs up like that, I have to go do my job.”
Jefferson would scratch back a run in the fifth – Moises Gudino’s liner single cashing in a leadoff Cameron Mallo double – and another in the seventh when Isiah Fernandez singled and scored on a Cameron Copple double.
Moises Gudino watches his RBI single slice into left field.
But the minor blemishes to Fisher’s night were made moot by two seventh-inning Panthers runs, highlighted by a Thielen sac fly and a Sweeney RBI single.
Brock Thielen levels up a high fastball for an RBI single in the fifth.
Fisher limited the Dragons opportunities to spark rallies, as Jefferson left eight men on base in the game, something the Panthers starter attributed to his ability to refocus and not let the moment overwhelm him.
“I’ve been doing that my whole life,” Fisher said. “Staying composed and not showing any emotion out there … just stay calm and focus.”
Senior Cameron Mallo heads down the first base line on his double in the home-fifth.
“We obviously gameplanned for someone else,” Jefferson head coach Spencer Nunez said, “but I tip my hat to him (Fisher). He came out here, got ahead quick as we were aggressive, but we just couldn’t get things going with how he threw tonight.”
Fisher was definitely supported by the Panthers strong defense – especially up the middle from the shortstop Partridge and second baseman Dominick Gotauco.
“They’ve been lockdown all year, especially the infield,” Fisher said. “Dom Gotauco and Nic rolling up the middle, they are a great combo. Always making plays for me all year.”
Panthers junior second baseman Dominick Gotauco makes a catch on a pop fly.
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Mulberry junior shortstop Nic Partridge throws for an out early in Wednesday’s game.
The ending was disappointing for the Dragons and their fourth-year head coach, who sees his first freshman class depart as seniors. But he said he was proud of the work they put in.
“This class means everything,” Nunez said. “The message I just sent them (in the postgame) was how they left this program better than they found it four years ago, and it has everything to do with them.
Cameron Copple was 2-for-4 in the loss for the Dragons.
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Isiah Fernandez heads home on Cameron Copple’s RBI double in the seventh.
“They came in, bought in, and people came in and looked at them and then they bought in. Three of these guys got to go to Fort Myers (the state final four) twice … they got to do something not a lot of high school players get to do.”
Mulberry continues in the region 3 playoffs, hosting Tarpon Springs on Saturday at 7 pm, after the Spongers dispatched Dunedin, 5-0.
Mulberry’s Jaden Sweeney collects the final of his three hits, driving in his third RBI of the game in the seventh.
⚾ Class 4A-Region 3
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Mulberry 9, Jefferson 3
M 101|140|2 – |9|12|0
J 000|110|1 – |3|9|3
W – Fisher (5-3); L – Marroquin (9-2)
2B – Partridge (M); Copple, Mallo (J); 3B – Campbell (M). Records – M (17-9); J (18-9).
