Satin plays small ball, then goes big fly as Plant tops Northeast

Plant head coach Dennis Braun shakes Robert Satin’s hand as the junior rounds third after his two run home run to right.

Story by Jarrett Guthrie
Photos by Mike Camunas

TAMPA – Junior Robert Satin poked a near-perfect bunt base hit to third base in the second inning of Plant’s season opener against St. Petersburg Northeast to kick off the area high school baseball season and the inaugural 813Preps Bay Bash. Hustling down the line, Satin forced the action, reaching with a single but also drawing an overthrow to first and Bryce Pelleriti crossed the plate starting off a strong showing for the Panthers as the South Tampa squad took an 8-2 win off the Vikings.

Rocco DeMarinis followed immediately with a ground ball to the left side scoring a second run, and giving a shot in the arm to senior RHP Thomas Bolton who earned the win on the mound working five scoreless inning and striking out three.

Plant RHP Thomas Bolton delivers a pitch in his season-opening win.

Northeast produced hits throughout – nine in total against the Panthers – but struggled to stack those hits and put runs on the board. This was due in part to some solid defense showcased by the Panthers, as freshman second baseman Cash Strayer started a pair of inning-ending double-plays, as well as keeping the Vikings off the board with a strong throw to the plate to end a scoring threat in the second.

“You know the other six freshman who have started for me (while head coach at Plant) – we know where they all ended up,” Panthers coach Dennis Braun said, alluding to among others current Houston Astros hitter Kyle Tucker and the Panthers’ most-recent first-round selection Connor Scott (currently in the Marlins organization).

Panthers catcher Tanner Gilbert tags out Northeast’s Jayden Cannizzaro at the plate in the sixth inning.

Bolton said the early runs put him at ease, and he had high praise for his defense backing him up.

“Having trust in my defense, knowing they’ll make those plays behind me allows me to focus on just throwing strikes,” Bolton said. “(The early runs) definitely relaxed me a bit, that cushion let me know if one run gets by, we are still comfortable and we kept adding to it.”

Plant kept producing at the plate in the third inning when Conley Strayer smacked a standup double and took advantage of two wild pitches to score what would prove to be the decider.

Plant senior Conley Strayer on the move on a wild pitch in the third.

However, it was Satin who salted the win away with a home run that smacked off the light post in right, returning to the field of play and admittedly confusing the junior hitter.

“I saw the pitcher pretty well when I squared to bunt (in my first at-bat), and I felt like I was seeing the ball pretty well from him,” Satin said. “He threw me the same pitches and I was all over it.”

“I thought it hit the wall, bounced back on the field … just living in that moment, it was surreal.”
Northeast pitcher Ace Williams was tagged with the loss, allowing four earned runs, while striking out four.

Northeast sophomore righty Ace Williams delivers a pitch in the second inning.

The Vikings left nine runners on base in the game, finally getting on the board on an RBI pinch-hit by freshman Harry Hedges in the sixth, however that single found its way to Pelleriti in center who kept a second run from scoring on the hit with a throw in from the outfield.

“This is a good confidence booster to start the year,” Pelleriti said. “We have Jesuit on Wednesday and we’ll see where we go from there.”

Jack Meade was 3-for-3 for the Panthers, scoring twice and stealing a base.

Plant’s Jack Meade watches one of his three singles of the game sail into right field.

Amai Rivera-Martinez had a pair of singles and scored Northeast’s first run, while Nelson Ramos drew a bases loaded walk in the seventh to plate Brayden Hale, who reached on a pinch-hit double down the left field line.

Northeast senior pitcher Jairo Ramirez.

Northeast faces Bloomingdale (0-1) on Tuesday at 7pm from Jesuit in Bay Bash action, while Strawberry Crest opens its season at 4pm against Seminole Osceola. Plant faces host Jesuit on Wednesday, at 7pm.

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