Things snowball quickly as Bulls fall in state semi
A broad smile from Bloomingdale senior Cooper Hinson after his first-pitch single in Thursday’s Class 6A State Semifinal was short-lived as things took a turn quickly. Gainesville Buchholz took a commanding seven-run lead in the first and ended the Bulls state tourney run, 12-0.
By Jarrett Guthrie, Editor
FORT MYERS – Bloomingdale head coach Kris Wilken likened Thursday’s FHSAA Class 6A semifinal game to a snowball gathering speed and size rolling downhill. That snowball – in the form of Gainesville Buchholz – descended upon the Bulls in a hurry with a big first inning, and ended Bloomingdale’s run in the state series in a five-inning, 12-0 defeat.
“They (Buchholz) did everything right,” Wilken said. “We let a snowball get out of control rolling downhill, and we couldn’t stop it.”
Click here for a few more photos from this one.
Though the weather analogy was apt, in actuality it was a thunderstorm that had the biggest impact on the day. A delay of more than five hours set upon Fort Myers’ Hammond Stadium just prior to the scheduled 10 a.m. start, and reset time and time again – pushing the game’s start to well passed 3 p.m.
Bulls senior Pierce Collins tries to get his offense fired up from the dugout.
Once underway, it looked like Bloomingdale (19-11) might be poised to break out early, as leadoff man Cooper Hinson slashed the first pitch of the game into left field. An out later the Bulls offensive leader swiped second, but that was all the generosity allowed by Bobcats starting pitcher JJ Gardner.
Buchholz’s Aiden Kastensmidt drove a pair of runs in with this double in the first inning.
When Buchholz (24-8) got its opportunity, the Bobcats pounced. A leadoff double by Connor Collins started a run of seven-straight Buchholz players reaching, with Collins scoring the deciding run on a Noah Hayse (3-for-3, three RBI) single. In total the Bobcats pushed across seven first-inning runs and never looked back.
Senior Johnny De La Rosa sent a triple to the game in left-center in the second inning.
The Bulls struggled to muster much else – save for a Johnny De La Rosa triple in the second and Izzy Perez reaching on an error in the third, as Gardner worked three scoreless, before turning the ball over to Conner Brown to finish off the Bulls early with two no-hit innings.
Defensively, standout catcher Vinny Dinzeo threw out a stealing runner at second, and Javier Navas-Hoyer made his first appearance in more than two weeks, ending a Bobcats rally in the third by covering first for the final out, then struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 fourth.
Bloomingdale junior catcher Vinny Dinzeo throws out a runner in the second inning.
“The catching position in general is kind of unsung hero on every team, but Vinny means everything to us,” Wilken said of the USF committed junior. “We kind of got to a point there where (pitching coach) Austin Wilson and I didn’t have any answers and we said through the pitch-comm, we said, ‘Vinny, take it.’ Maybe we should have done that from the beginning because he called some really good innings there (at the end).”
Sophomore Javier Navas-Hoyer retired the final four Buchholz batters of the game, recording a pair of strikeouts in a 1-2-3 fourth inning.
Though a disappointing end to the season, Wilken found some solace in the fight his team showed in postseason play.
“Two weeks ago, three weeks ago, if you said we’d be down here playing in a final four – not because we didn’t have the talent, but because of the way we were playing – I would have said you were crazy,” Wilken said. “Kudos to my kids, especially our seniors, that came together and made a decision that they were going to fight.”
Hinson added to those sentiments, and though discouraged by the results, the Marshall signee said the late run will stand out in his memory of his time in a Bloomingdale uniform.
Hinson throws a ball in from rightfield.
“I’m really proud of the way this team fought this year,” Hinson said. “We definitely had our ups-and-downs, but I think our playoff run will probably be the most memorable part of my high school career.”
Buchholz will play Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer in Saturday’s 6A state final at 11 a.m. after the Panthers took down Viera, 8-0 in the early evening game on Thursday.
⚾ Class 6A State Semifinal ⚾
Gainesville Buchholz 12, Bloomingdale 0 (5)
Bloom 000|00x|x – |0|2|3
Buch 705|0xx|x – |12|11|1
W – Gardner (7-0); L – Caryer (2-1)
2B – Kastensmidt, Brewer, Collins, Gardner, So (Buch); 3B – De La Rosa (Bloom); Wilkie (Buch). Records – Bloom (19-11); Buch (24-8).
