Wharton powers its way to quarterfinal sweep of Parrish

Wharton players gather outside the home dugout as senior Antonio Fawcett trots down the third base line after putting the Wildcats up with a two-run home run in the third inning. 

Mike Camunas, Creative Director

NEW TAMPA — There’s no better sound to Drew Cobb.

“Oh, it’s great,” the Wharton senior rightfielder said. “Nothing beats it.”

It was the clang off the scoreboard coming on the second of three home runs the Wildcats hit while sweeping Parrish Community in the Class 6A-Region 3 quarterfinals with a resounding 11-3 win Thursday evening.

With the scoreboard he’d literally just impacted with a home run ball in the background, Wharton senior Drew Cobb rounds the bases in the fifth inning. Cobb was 3-for-3, with three RBI and three runs scored in the win. 

Wharton (23-5), advancing to the region semifinals for the first time since 2022, will now be hosted by Plant, with Games 1 and 2 on April 30 and May 1, respectively.

For more photos from this game, click here.

On Thursday, however, not only did the Wildcats come back to win, but put up a six-run fifth inning to pull away from the Bulls (20-7).

Patience and a discerning eye at the plate paid off for sophomore Braden Bodenstein, who drew three walks and scored twice in the Wildcats win.

“They battled back there to get (the score) to 4-3, but it was just the little stuff (for us) — little ABs,” said Cobb, who went 3-for-3 with three RBI and three runs scored on the night. “(Our batters) will get down 0-2 (in the count) and then battle back and draw the walk and then our hitters are just ready to do their job.”

That job included Cobb’s homer, but also a two-run laser over the right-field wall by senior Antonio Fawcett that gave Wharton the lead it would never relinquish. Additionally, junior catcher Chase Anello sent a solo shot in the sixth.

Wharton junior catcher Chase Anello hit a solo home run in the sixth inning. 

Despite building a three-run lead by the fourth thanks to two runs scored on two outs — Cobb drove in a run and then scored on an error — Parrish trimmed that lead to 4-3 in the fifth with a sac fly and an error on the Wildcats’ part.

“We tell them to breathe,” Wharton first-year coach Anthony Markle said, referring to when the team starts to lose focus or unravel. “We know that tension is our enemy and getting tight is our enemy, so that’s our main message on a daily basis: breathe and play. When things get tough, we just ask them to step back, clear the mechanism, and it has worked all year.”

Senior Alex Johnstone was 2-for-4 in the win with a run scored.

After Markle rounded up his squad in the middle of the fifth inning, the Wildcats broke out in a big way, including loading the bases with one out behind a Jairius Morris walk, an Alex Johnstone single and a Braden Bodenstein walk. A Jeremiah Brown infield single and an error scored two and a single to center by freshman Alex Capezutti plated two more, before Cobb greeted the scoreboard with a bang.

“I’ve never done that before in a game,” Cobb added. “At practice, I have, but never in a game.”

Wildcats junior Chase Andress struck out five over five innings earning the win. 

On the mound, Wharton turned to junior lefty Chase “Slim” Andress, who would throw five solid innings despite giving up three runs on seven hits and four walks, while striking out five. Fellow junior Connor Evans finished out the final two innings, going hitless and striking out two.

Junior RHP Connor Evans struck out two in two, no-hit innings of relief for Wharton.

For Wharton, and Markle, this season has had its growing pains, as a team with players who had been together, learned to mesh with a new coach and his leadership style. Despite plenty of success out the gate — a 12-2 start to the season — Markle said the team needed to find an identity and it took most of the season to do so, but also it came at the right time headed into the postseason with a Class 6A-District 9 championship.

“I knew when I met this group that they wanted (to win),” said Markle, who won a state championship as an assistant coach with Clearwater Calvary Christian in 2019. “They love the game of baseball, they want to play hard, they want to be successful. They also wanted to have a real situation (where games mattered and they were headed to the postseason). The biggest thing, for me, this year, was how do you compete? How do you go about your daily routine? How do you work to get there?”

Jeremiah Brown is welcomed back to the dugout after scoring a run in the fifth inning. The junior was very productive at the plate, setting up a run in the fourth with a sac bunt, and going 2-for-3 with a run and RBI. 

“So, there was no identity (for the team),” he added. “We didn’t know each other, and there were some days these guys didn’t think of me as their best friend. But I walked into something that was incredibly special because I saw it in their eyes. They wanted to be good, they wanted to play meaningful baseball and they wanted to compete. They just didn’t know how. That was the key and now they know how to go a full seven (innings) and that’s what this season has been all about.”

This season, so far, has been about a lot for the Wildcats, including finding their identity quickly. The players came together and dominated most of the season, outscoring opponents 204-79, all while boasting a team ERA of 2.11 over 185 innings pitched.

Wharton freshman Alex Capezutti is all smiles after helping pad the lead with a pinch-hit, two-run single up the middle in the fifth inning.

Though it was still as simple as becoming closer as teammates that bought into Markle.

“I mean, we love it (under Markle),” said Fawcett, with his .333 average and team-high six homers. “… all of us just bought in and it just came down to preparation and dedication. But we can hit. We know we can hit, but (in the dugout), we can get weird (laughs). We just do. We get loud in the dugout, we find a way to get in their heads and it’s just fun. Weird fun.”

The Wildcats go BOOM! celebrating with Antonio Fawcett (#12) after his home run in the third inning.

Weirdly enough, Cobb agrees.

“(Having him as a coach this year) has been great,” Cobb said. “You can just see it, that he looks at us and loves us, every day, and he does whatever it takes or whatever we need to help us win, so that’s all you it is, really (you could want).”

⚾ Class 6A-Region 3 ⚾
Wharton wins series 2-0

Wharton 11
Parrish Community 3

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).

⚾

Wildcats junior C Chase Anello

⚾

The Wildcats dugout was in it all game long.

⚾

Junior 3B Jairius Morris scored one run in the win.

⚾

Winning pitcher LHP Chase Andress

⚾

Senior 2B Justis Meadows

⚾

Wharton sophomore OF Chris Stroud

⚾

Teammates Drew Cobb and Chase Anello celebrate Antonio Fawcett (#12) at the plate after his home run.

⚾

Jeremiah Brown drops down a sac bunt in the fourth inning setting up a Wildcats run.

⚾

Wharton first-year head coach Anthony Markle

Categories

Archives