⚾ Class 2A-Region 3 ⚾
Bishop McLaughlin wins series 2-1
Bishop McLaughlin 5
Tampa Catholic 3
Tampa Catholic took a first-inning lead on a two-run single by Jack Smythe, but saw Bishop McLaughlin erase it in the home-half and push out a significant lead as the Hurricanes won the deciding Game 3 of the region quarterfinal series. Bishop McLaughlin got two-out singles in first from Chris Rodriguez and Steele Thalleen followed by a walk to load the bases, before a TC error extended the inning and cleared the bases. The Hurricanes kept the damage going with RBI singles from Aiden Fox and Chris Bell, and junior starting pitcher Cooper Antalek held the Crusaders from scoring any more for the next 5 2/3 innings. Antalek allowed just the two first-inning runs on two hits and struck out six, before Elvys Quezada worked the final four outs, allowing one run and earning his second save of the series. Jacob Butler doubled and scored a run for Tampa Catholic, and senior Dominic Woodward took the tough loss, tagged with five unearned runs, with five hits across six innings and five strikeouts. Bishop McLaughlin will travel to Sarasota Cardinal Mooney for the region semifinals beginning next Monday.
T 200|000|1 – |3|3|2
B 500|000|x – |5|5|2
W – Antalek (3-3); L – Woodward (4-3); S – Quezada
2B – Bitman, Butler (T); Bell (B). Records – B (13-14); T (21-9).
⚾ Class 4A-Region 3 ⚾
Jesuit wins series 2-1
Jesuit 9
Bonita Springs 0
Jesuit senior Brady Hoar held Bonita Springs to two hits and two walks across six scoreless innings, while he struck out seven as the Tigers won Game 3 of the quarterfinal series. Kaden Waechter (2-for-3, double, RBI, 2 runs) singled and scored on a Robby Santana (1-for-3, 3 RBI) groundout in the first to give Jesuit all it would need on the road. Senior Brody Smith was 3-for-5 from the leadoff spot with a double, two RBI and two runs scored, Vincent DeCarlo went 2-for-2 with a walk, and Bryce Besece was 1-for-4 with an RBI. The top-seeded Tigers will now host its district final opponent, Countryside (Jesuit winning that game 7-0) in the region semifinals for the first two games of a potential best-of-three series beginning on Monday.
J 103|000|5 – |9|12|2
B 000|000|0 – |0|2|2
W – Hoar (2-1); L – Holappa
2B – Smith, Waechter (J). Records – B (17-13); J (21-9).
⚾ Class 5A-Region 3 ⚾
East Bay leads series 1-0
East Bay 9
Manatee 4
East Bay starting pitcher Mike Mowell saw Manatee load the bases in the first inning on three hits, then struck out the next three he faced, before his offense gave him a four-run lead in the home-half and the senior returned to the mound and again struck out three-straight. But one more offensive inning would be all that would get in before the lights went out at East Bay and forced a 20-plus hour delay in Game 1 of the region quarterfinals. A day later, Mowell had thrown 46 pitches and needed a days rest and Manatee returned to Gibsonton looking to get back in the game. It almost happened as the Indians gave back two runs on two hit batters, two walks and an error, but East Bay settled and put the game out of reach with a five-run home third paced by an RBI single from Jonathan Bryant and a two-run triple from Eddie Smith. Game 2 of the series will take place on Friday at East Bay. Rory Beuford Jr. was 3-for-4 with run and RBI, Rowland Ruiz Jr. was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored, and JJ Groover pitched three innings, allowing one earned run on two hits and struck out two.
M 002|010|0 – |4|7|3
E 405|000|x – |9|7|1
W – Mowell (5-4); L – Williams
2B – Ruiz (E); 3B – Smith (E). Records – M (17-11); E (15-11).
⚾ Class 6A-Region 2 ⚾
Bloomingdale wins series 2-0
Bloomingdale 11
Winter Garden Horizon 1 – five innings
Bulls junior Javier Navas-Hoyer held Horizon to one run on three hits, while striking out seven as Bloomingdale cave the righty a short night by delivering 11 runs of support and booking a spot in next week’s region semifinal with a mercy-rule win in Game 2. Cesar Campos (2-for-2, 3 RBI, 2 runs, BB) got the scoring started with an RBI single in a five-run second inning, which also included a two-run triple by AJ Cruz (2-for-2, 3 RBI, 2 BB). Izzy Perez went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored, Vinny Dinzeo had an RBI sac fly and a run-scoring single, and Mason Johnson went 1-for-2 with three runs scored. No. 1-seed Bloomingdale will have to wait until Saturday’s decisive third game between Melbourne and Lake Minneola to find out its semifinal opponent.
H 001|00x|x – |1|3|2
B 052|04x|x – |11|9|0
W – Navas-Hoyer (7-1); L – Singer
3B – Cruz (B). Records – H (14-14); B (24-4).
⚾ Class 6A-Region 3 ⚾
Series tied 1-1
Palmetto 5
Sickles 4
The Tigers stalked the Gryphons down late forcing Sickles to travel to Palmetto on Saturday for a deciding Game 3. Senior Braden Ross gave Sickles the lead with an RBI single in the first, then gave the Gryphons the lead again in the bottom of the third with a two-run single, before Emilio Salgado added some insurance a few innings later. But the Tigers refused to go away, tying the game in the sixth on four singles – including RBI hits for Trey James and Brandon Aitken, and then getting two singles in the seventh from Keaton Love (two runs) and Chance Schappacher, before two walks (RBI to Christian Kretzer) scored the deciding run.
P 011|002|1 – |5|9|2
S 102|010|0 – |4|5|2
W – Capel; L – Durda
2B – Willis (P). Records – P (9-19); S (21-8).
⚾ Class 6A-Region 3 ⚾
Series tied at 1-1
East Lake 4
Gaither 3
Gaither broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the seventh as Jeffery Cavicci led off the inning with a single, was swapped for pinch-runner Jackson Mirza (who was forced from Wednesday’s game after being hit in the wrist by a pitch, but avoided serious injury) who scored on an Eddy Rojo (two runs) double. Rojo was then driven in on a David Pina single. But the lead was short-lived as the Eagles responded in the home-half walking off the win after Daniel Hill tied the game with a triple, then scored the winning run on a walk-off single by Andrew Sheffield. Camden Boehm drove in an Eagles run with a single in the third, and Gaither scored a run in the fifth on an Angel Hernandez single. With the series now even, Gaither will host the deciding Game 3 on Saturday.
G 000|010|2 – |3|5|1
E 001|000|3 – |4|6|0
W – Millian (3-1); L – Kindberg (0-1)
2B – Rojo (G); 3B – Hill (E). Records – G (19-9); E (20-8).
⚾ Class 6A-Region 3 ⚾
Wharton wins series 2-0
Wharton 11
Parrish Community 3
Wharton powers its way to quarterfinal sweep of Parrish.
P 010|020|0 – |3|7|2
W 002|261|x – |11|11|1
W – Andress; L – Norbeck
2B – Peters, Torres, Cripe (P); HR – Fawcett, Cobb, Anello (W). Records – P (20-7); W (23-5).
⚾ Class 6A-Region 3 ⚾
Plant wins series 2-0
Plant 5
Steinbrenner 3
Danny Cerelli‘s solo home run in the bottom of the first started things off for Plant as the Panthers swept Steinbrenner in the region quarterfinals. Urban Ellis added an RBI double and Wyatt Patterson singled in a run as Plant built up a big enough lead to hold off the Warriors. Jordan Olivia doubled in a run and Cash Strayer hit his seventh home run of the season in the fourth inning. Steinbrenner did make Plant work for it at the end however, as the Warriors got a double and run from Mason Koumas in the fourth (on a Kelton Meares ground ball), then scored two in the sixth when Austin Liss (3-for-4) singled in Koumas and Dylan Kolsen (both walked), and got two hits in the seventh but couldn’t cut into the lead any more. Nick Osborne was 3-for-3 with a double for the Warriors and Ty Ciccarello was 2-for-4. Plant sophomore Truman Mayer entered in a tough spot in the sixth with two aboard and finished off the game, striking out a pair and giving up three hits to earn the save. Coy Keller worked two scoreless innings to start for the Panthers, and Rhett Dixson allowed one run over two innings with two strikeouts. No. 2-seed Plant will host No. 6 Wharton in next week’s region semifinal best-of-three series.
S 000|102|0 – |2|11|0
P 310|100|x – |5|9|1
W – Keller (4-1); L – Krueger; S – Mayer (1)
2B – Osborne, Koumas (S); Olivia, Ellis (P); HR – Cerelli, Strayer (P). Records – S (15-14); P (22-6).
⚾ Class 7A-Region 2 ⚾
Series tied 1-1
Strawberry Crest 11
Newsome 6
Strawberry Crest jumped out to a big lead and Newsome responded, but the Chargers offense swung it all night and pulled away with a five-run sixth inning to force the Wolves to visit Dover on Saturday for a deciding Game 3. Walks loaded the bases in the sixth with the scored tied at five-all, and Matt Hall (1-for-3, run) picked up an RBI the hard way with a hit-by-pitch, then the Chargers poured it on – Reuben Vasquez scoredon a passed ball, Dillon Knight plated two with a triple, and Brisen Tweedy (2-for-4, 4 RBI) doubled in the last run. Toby Highsmith went 2-for-3, with an RBI and two runs for Crest, Nico Cappucci was 3-for-4 with a run scored, Chase Conti was 1-for-4 with two runs, and Saxon Shah pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win, striking out three. Isaiah Sanchez (2B, run, RBI) and Lincoln Jordy (run) both went 2-for-4, Alec Chin was 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Anthony DeVito went 1-for-4 with a run and two RBI for Newsome.
S 230|015|0 – |11|13|1
N 001|410|0 – |6|10|0
W – Shah (4-0); L – Sanchez (1-1)
2B – Tweedy 2, Marinez (S); Chin, Cozart, Sanchez (N); 3B – Knight (S). Records – S (19-8); N (20-7).
⚾ Class 7A-Region 2 ⚾
Series tied 1-1
Windermere 10
Alonso 5
Alonso fell in the second game of its region quarterfinal best-of-three series at Windermere forcing a deciding Game 3 at home on Saturday at 7 pm. Windermere’s Randy Ruiz hit a first inning home run, and the Wolverines added on with RBI hits from Fraynder Albornoz and Jose Caldzadillia (2-for-4, 3 RBI). The Ravens clawed back a run on a Jordan Campos RBI single in the fourth, but Windermere put the game out of reach with five runs in the home-fourth.
A 000|140|0 – |5|6|0
W 102|520|x – |10|12|0
W – Roman (5-0); L – Alonso (5-4)
2B – Perez, Llanes (A); HR – Ruiz (W). Records – A (16-11); W (22-7).
