Dragons stretch lead late, defeat Alonso, 7-1
Jefferson junior Ethan Savinon gets a high-five from head coach Spencer Nunez after his game-clinching three-run double in the seventh inning.
By Chuck Frye, Senior Staff Writer
TAMPA – Little hits can create big results. Just ask Jefferson High.
After Dragons senior Sam Hyman and Alonso righty Julian Batista engaged in an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel Tuesday night, the bottom of visiting Jefferson’s lineup peppered the Ravens’ bullpen with well-placed flair singles. The Texas Leaguers set the stage for the heart of the lineup to produce as the Dragons pulled away for a deceptive 7-1 victory.
“This year, we’re tending to have more offense than usual at this moment,” Jefferson head coach Spencer Nunez said. “Our offense kind of has been clicking early.”
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Against Alonso (1-2), it took six challenging innings against crafty Batista (5ip, two hits, three walks, hit batter, eight strikeouts) and reliever Noah Renew (a 1-2-3 sixth) to finally break through.
“He’s a good pitcher. He’s got good stuff and he competes,” Nunez said of Batista. “He had us off-balance a little bit in the middle of the game and he gave (the Ravens) a chance to win.”
After allowing two hits and a hit-by-pitch over Jefferson’s first four batters, Alonso starter Julian Batista buckled down big-time, throwing 4 2/3 hitless innings.
Facing Renew with a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh, Jefferson (3-0) junior Manny Baez flopped an opposite-field single to shallow rightfield to gently start the rally. After a passed ball and two errant bunt attempts, sophomore DH Elijah Benton redeemed himself with a soft base hit to center to put runners on the corners. Sophomore Jaylen Watts, the Dragons’ animated No. 9 batter, blooped a single to center to score Baez, with a throwing error moving Benton and Watts into scoring position.
“Our 7-8-9 guys can run,” Nunez said. “Whenever they’re on base, they usually score.”
Jefferson senior A.J. Cruz trots behind Alonso catcher Mikey Madueno and across home plate on a first-inning Kaleb Cherry base hit.
After lead-off man Kaiden Johnson drew an intentional walk, junior Ethan Savinon blasted a bases-clearing double well over Alonso centerfielder Raymond Llanes’s head to essentially put the game away.
“I was really sitting fastball getting ready for the at-bat,” Savinon said. “I knew I had to put something in play. I knew my team’s got my back, so I had to come out there and prove who I am.”
Ravens third baseman Johan Cintron lunges toward fair territory to corral Manny Baez’s second-inning popup.
Hyman followed a Kaleb Cherry single with an infield ground-out that plated courtesy runner Leo Schreiner with the final run of the night, before Savinon put on his closer hat and six-straight in the final two frames with three strikeouts.
“I was approaching (the end of the game) looking to just get (Alonso) out, even if they hit the ball,” Savinon said. “I came out really well, I came out strong.”
Scattering four hits and aided by a pair of double plays, Jefferson starter Sam Hyman worked five strong innings to earn the victory against Alonso.
“We have a moment where this is probably going to be our last two-game week,” Nunez explained of Savinon’s late-game role coming after drawing the start in last week’s win against Armwood. “Ethan will probably start going into a different role soon.”
Johan Cintron (12) shows his joy after a deep double leading off the second inning. The junior would later score what would be Alonso’s only run on an infield error.
Savinon’s shut-down work came after Hyman scattered four hits and allowed a lone run in the second when Johan Cintron raked a lead-off double for the Ravens, moved to third on an infield out and scored on a fielding error on the same play.
“We’re trying to keep our guys’ pitch counts down throughout the rotation early in the season,” Nunez said. “We’re confident with our rotation, confident with our staff, but, in the past, we’ve kind of teetered at the end of the year where we got a little fatigued. We’re paying attention to pitch counts, monitoring recovery on Wednesdays and Fridays after games … trying to take a different approach.”
Getting the stop sign from head coach Landy Faedo, Alonso’s Ihonathan Perez glides into third base after a fourth-inning Jordan Campos fly out. However, the senior was ruled out on appeal for leaving second base before the catch.
Another effective way to limit pitches is through strong defense, which the Dragons had in spades. Paced by shortstop Watts, Jefferson turned double plays in the first two innings before a momentum-crushing turn in the fourth.
Jefferson lefty A.J. Cruz fights off an inside pitch, later drawing a fifth-inning walk.
Ihonathan Perez and Cintron started the inning with back-to-back singles before Jordan Campos lashed a line drive caught by centerfielder A.J. Lee. Perez tagged up and advanced to third, but before Lee’s throw got to cutoff man Watts, the Dragons’ coaching staff was yelling that Perez left the base early. Watts tagged second on the appeal and the umpire agreed, ringing up the second out and taking an Alonso runner out of scoring position. To compound the play, the next pitch saw a passed ball that would have tied the game.
“(With that lost run,) maybe we put a little pressure on (Jefferson),” Ravens head coach Landy Faedo said. “We had our opportunities, we just didn’t get enough hits.”
Ravens junior Noah Renew worked a 1-2-3 sixth inning in relief before Jefferson’s bats came to life in the seventh.
With that, Faedo was happy with his squad’s improved work at the plate.
“We struck out 28 times in the first two games. (Tuesday) we only struck out five,” he said. “Sooner or later, somebody’s going to have to step up and it will lead to a little domino effect. We’ll keep plugging.”
A five-run seventh inning helped, but Jefferson reliever Ethan Savinon didn’t need it as he worked two perfect innings to earn the save.
Both teams return to action on Thursday. Renew will draw the start on the mound as Alonso travels to East Bay; while Jefferson will choose between Bobby Edwards, Cherry, and John Oliver when it hosts Chamberlain.
Dragons sophomore Jaylen Watts (2) celebrates with his coaches during a seventh-inning time out. Watts’ RBI single was part of a five-run frame that put the game away for the visitors.
⚾
#4 Jefferson 7
Alonso 1
J 200|000|5 – |7|7|1
A 010|000|0 – |1|4|2
W – Hyman (2-0); L – Batista (0-2); S – Savinon (1)
2B – Johnson, Savinon (J); Cintron (A). Records – J (3-0); A (1-2).
