McDonald, Bly keep Sickles churning in winner’s bracket win

Sickles junior Caden McDonald homers in the first inning, upping his county-leading RBI total to 18 (second in the state).

By Jarrett Guthrie
Editor

TAMPA – Sickles missed the blistering 10 ½ runs-per-game average it has set  so far in Monday’s afternoon Saladino Tourney game against Steinbrenner. The Gryphons offense “settled” for just a 10-3 victory over the Warriors – advancing in the winners bracket of the Gold Division playing the winner of Monday evening’s game between Jesuit and Hillsborough (TBD).

Sophomore Thomas Bly made the most of his bump-day, yielding just one run in four innings on the mound, striking out four.

Sickles sophomore RHP Thomas Bly earned his third win of the year, while also going 2-for-3, with three RBI as the Grypons topped Steinbrenner in Saladino Gold Tourney winner’s bracket play on Monday.

And by the time he left the mound, he’d already added two RBI hits and had watched from the on-deck circle as Caden McDonald blasted his third home run into the cars parked outside the left field fence.

Steinbrenner CF Jake Vildostegui (1-for-3) makes a catch.

“It is fun watching him right now,” Bly said of McDonald. “When he’s up there, I just know he’s going to get something done. Right now, when Caden is up with runners on it’s just a given, runs are going to be produced.”

McDonald, who upped his average to .692 and now sits at 18 RBI (second in the state), answered a Steinbrenner (3-4) first inning run, crushing a first-pitch fastball over the wall and driving in Hayden Yost, who had doubled one pitch earlier.

Sickles (8-0) pounded out 12 hits, as six different hitters drove in runs in the win. Justin Allen doubled in a run, McDonald scored three times upping his tally to 12, but Yost kept his lead scoring his 16th and 17th runs in the win. Yost now sits atop the state leaderboard in runs.

For Bly, the beneficiary of the offensive output  now finding himself with a 3-0 record on the mound, his preseason expectations for this year’s Gryphons squad (which had only one senior in Monday’s starting lineup) were perhaps a little low. However, he said the undefeated streak hasn’t changed the teams view of itself.

“I did not think we would (be undefeated at this point), I thought that next year with all these juniors and sophomores would be our time,” Bly said. “I still think of us as the underdogs. We still need to go out, fight for everything and play for each other. Nothing is different about that.”

Steinbrenner’s Jace Druschel singled on the game’s first pitch, moved to second on an Evan Cuervo (2-for-3) single and scored on a double-play for the opening salvo. The Warriors added two in the fifth, first on an error and the second on a wild pitch, but couldn’t overcome allowing a six-run inning to the Gryphons in the third. Andrew Geraghty was 2-for-3 with a double in the loss.

(3) Sickles 10
Steinbrenner 3

St 100|020|0 – |3|7|2
Si 206|101|x – |10|12|1
W – Bly (3-0); L – Daniels
2B – Geraghty (St); Yost, Allen (Si); HR –McDonald (Si). Records – St (3-4); Si (7-0).