Lennard capitalizes on erratic pitching for district win
Lennard starting pitcher Jack Mueller (file photo).
By Brett Goodrich, Correspondent
RUSKIN – The Longhorns set the tone early and did not relent despite the Raiders best efforts make a comeback, but Lennard held on for a 6-4 win at home in a battle of 813Preps Top Eight teams.
Lennard senior Jack Mueller had a short, but impressive outing against the #6 Plant City Raiders. When asked what his game plan was, Mueller said, “throw strikes, let my team play.”
And throw strikes he did.
Of the 63 pitches hurled by the Eckerd College commit, only 16 were called a ball and he threw a first pitch strike to 14 batters out of the 17 he faced.
On the other hand, Plant City senior, Adan Longoria struggled to find the zone in his first two innings of work.
In the bottom of the first inning, Lennard got going when Alex Brazer set the table by wearing one off the elbow pad and advancing to second on a passed ball. Junior outfielder, Mattie Counts moved the runner to third with a single. On the first pitch for the next hitter, Longhorns head coach Victor Martinez called for a hit-and-run to, “try to get some movement on Longo, trying to get the infielders moving around and trying to mark early.”
With Counts on his way to second, Logan Covey unleashed on a fastball that sailed over the centerfielder’s head and settled against the fence. This allowed both Brazer and Counts to score on the play, resulting in a two-run early advantage for Lennard after one inning.
Mueller did not seem too comfortable out of the stretch during his four-inning outing, and after he clipped Longoria in the chest with two outs in the second, he was forced to work out of the stretch for the first time. From there, he missed on his first two pitches to junior Chase Mobley.
Anticipating a fastball in a hitter’s count, Mobley belted the four-seamer to the opposite field for a double. The ball, again settled up against the fence under the scoreboard in right-center field allowing Longoria to cross the plate and cut the lead in half.
In the bottom of the second, with Longoria struggling to find the zone, hitting Tyler Ewell in the helmet, and giving up singles to Tim Mendizabal and Trey Miranda to load the bases.
With the pond full of ducks, Brazer was once-again struck by an inside fastball; however, in this instance, it earned him a well-deserved RBI. With two outs in the inning, Covey, a Florida Southern commit, used every bit of his helmet to protect his face, as 2-2 fastball caught his left earflap. As he sprinted down to first, Mendizabal trotted home for the second run of the inning. Designated hitter, Joseph Rivera then hit a screamer toward the Plant City third baseman, Anthony Palestrini, who was not able to fully control the one-hopper. This allowed Miranda to score and a few pitches later, a wild pitch brought Brazer home staking the Longhorns to a five-run lead.
The third inning flew by as Mueller came two pitches shy of an immaculate inning by striking out all three hitters on only 11 pitchers. In the bottom half, Longoria was able to erase an error by his second baseman, by picking off the runner at first and then retiring the next two hitters on swings and misses.
Newly converted catcher, Zane Wright, started the top of the fourth with a hard-hit double into the gap. Palestrini knocked him in on a ball that was tattooed to left field. After Landen Robert was hit by a fastball that missed the inside corner, there were Raiders on first and second base. Mobley, with one out, sent a towering fly ball to RJ Torres in right field. With the anticipation that Palestrini would be tagging towards third, Torres was getting behind the ball to set himself for a good throw. The ball appeared to have been caught and then dropped on the transfer.
Torres recovered, picked the ball up and threw out the trail runner at second base, appearing to end the inning on a double play. Lennard ran off the field in jubilation that they had ended the threat.
However, the home plate umpire had ruled the play a drop therefore no out on the catch; the runner was still, and correctly, called out at second.
Confusion ensued.
The Longhorns were steps from their dugout, the ball was just off the mound, laying in the grass, while the two existing Plant City baserunners were attempting to circle the pillows. The umpires then called the play dead and sent the runners back to first and third. According to the umpires ruling of a dropped fly ball, and only the second out of the inning being recorded at second base, the ball should have been live, despite the absence of the Lennard defenders.
After explanations were doled out to both managers, play resumed. On the very next pitch, the ball found the backstop on a wild pitch, allowing the second run to score. Fortunately for Lennard, the inning ended a few pitches later on a soft ground ball out to the second baseman.
Lennard’s bats fell quiet, only collecting one hit in the last four frames, while they relied on their pitching to close out the game. Mueller’s pitch count was predetermined by third year skipper Martinez. Not wanting to overwork his ace during the early parts of the year, Martinez, called on senior pitcher Carter Payne for a three-inning save. He breezed through the fifth and sixth inning only allowing two base runners, one via error in the fifth and a single by Palestrini, his second of the game.
In the final inning, the Raiders applied pressure to Payne. After an 0-2 single by Wyatt Fordham to lead off the inning, Payne found a backwards K of the nine-hole hitter. This brought up Deven Gonzalez at the top of the order who worked the count full before singling back up the middle. With runners now on the corners, Colin Pellicer was able to flare one out to center for an RBI single. With the tying run now at first with one out, Payne was able to get Wright out on strikes and a fly out to right to end the game.
“I got a little amped,” Payne said after the game, “we are about to win a close district ballgame, I started choking some stuff. Once I found it on those last few hitters, I was able to locate everything.”
Earning a three inning save is no easy feat, but the Presbyterian College commit, managed a stat line of 3ip, one run, on three hits, and six strikeouts.
Lennard (3-0) will face off against Hillsborough (1-1) Thursday night; and helping kick off the 2023 Plant City Strawberry Festival, Plant City (2-1) will head to Strawberry Crest (2-1) on Friday night.
⚾⚾⚾⚾
#8 Lennard 6, #6 Plant City 4
Check back Wednesday afternoon to read all about this game.
P 010|200|1 – |4|7|0
L 240|000|x – |6|7|3
W – Mueller (1-0); L – Longoria (1-1); S – Payne (1)
2B – Mobley, Wright (P); Covey (L). Records – P (2-1); L (3-0).
