Alonso seize opportunities, defeat Jefferson
Alonso’s players meet Samuel Fernandez at the plate to celebrate his first homer of the season.
By Chuck Frye, Staff Writer
TAMPA – Alonso had one effective motto on Thursday night: see an opportunity, seize an opportunity.
Unfortunately, visiting Jefferson couldn’t do the same.
A third-inning defensive mishap allowed the host Ravens to extend a game-changing run. And when presented with a golden opportunity to climb back into competition, the Dragons not only couldn’t muster timely production but Alonso subsequently extended its lead, eventually snapping a two-game losing streak with an 8-3 victory.
“We were coming off of a couple of tough losses at the Saladino Tournament against really good teams (in Lennard and finalist Sickles),” said senior leftfielder Ben Drumheller. “We just wanted to come out and make a statement. We know we’re better than our record.”
Alonso’s Ben Drumheller eludes the tag of Jefferson third baseman Kenneth Sampson in the sixth inning, later scoring on B.J. Rivera’s single.
Consider the statement made, times three.
Trailing Jefferson 2-0 on RBI hits from Alejandro Aguilar (first-inning single) and JaMarcus Benton (third-inning double), Drumheller followed leadoff man Chris Morgan’s run-scoring double with a single of his own to put Ravens on the corners. Cleanup man Jaden Nazar drew a two-out walk to load the sacks for Austin Kirsch, who rifled a single to score Morgan, with a throwing error on the play also plating Drumheller while advancing Nazar and Kirsch into scoring position. Senior Keenan Rutledge took full advantage of the bonus chance, placing a challenging fly ball along the leftfield line that eluded a pair of Jefferson defenders for a double to score a pair and boost Alonso’s lead to 5-2.
The Ravens (now 7-4) would not trail again.
“Being down, we had to make something happen,” said Rutledge. “At that point, I was looking fastball and I hit it in the right spot. It felt good to string hits together like that.”
Sophomore catcher Samuel Fernandez padded the advantage with a two-out, fifth-inning solo home run over the leftfield fence before Jefferson (8-4) launched what would be its final surge of the game.
Jefferson leftfielder Jayden Vazquez watches helplessly as Alonso sophomore Samuel Fernandez’s blast flies over the fence for a fifth-inning solo home run, his first of the season.
Getting runners on base consistently against starter and High Point commit B.J. Rivera, the Dragons’ first three sixth-inning batters reached on Jayden Vazquez’s second hit of the night, a Benton single and Aguilar’s walk.
Alonso starting pitcher BJ Rivera.
But despite the quick start, the Dragons fizzled, scoring only on Cameron Copple’s infield ground out to just narrow the gap to 6-3. The Ravens made the squander hurt more in the bottom half as aggressive base running caused a throwing error that scored Morgan followed by a Rivera RBI single.
“I thought the top half of our lineup hit really well and we pitched well enough to win,” Dragons head coach Spencer Nunez said of junior starter Mikey Marroquin, who struck out 10 in five innings of work. “We’ve got to make plays when they’re presented to us. Hitters six through nine need to produce.”
Jefferson starting pitcher Mikey Marroquin.
The bottom four struggled for Jefferson, going 0-for-11 with a walk and five strikeouts. In comparison, Alonso’s six-through-nine went 4-for-11 with a homer, a double and three RBI.
Rivera didn’t have his best stuff, but got within one batter of a complete game, scattering seven hits while striking out eight before giving way to closer Vincent Antuna.
“Jefferson scored early off of B.J., but he’s a good pitcher and he finds ways to battle out of situations,” said Alonso head coach Landy Faedo. “The guys didn’t give up, they kept their heads up and kept fighting. This was a big game for us in our first game back from the Saladino.”
“I think we’re one of the best teams in Tampa,” concluded Drumheller. “I think we’ll show that here in the last half of the season.”
The Ravens will look to keep rolling on Friday as they travel to Tampa Bay Tech. Jefferson will also hit the road, journeying on Tuesday to battle Gaither.
Jefferson leadoff batter Alliuq Troupe leaps past Alonso catcher Samuel Fernandez to score on DH Alejandro Aguilar’s first-inning RBI single.
Alonso 8, #4 Jefferson 3
J 101|001|0 – |3|6|2
A 005|012|0 – |8|10|2
W – Rivera (3-2); L – Marroquin (2-3)
2B – Benton (J); Rutledge (A); HR – Fernandez (A). Records – J (8-4); A (7-4).
Alonso’s Chris Morgan (2) just beats the tag of Jefferson shortstop Cameron Mallo for a sixth-inning stolen base.
