Satin chases perfection, Plant bests Jesuit
Robert Satin struck out nine in a complete-game effort as Plant defeated Jesuit, 4-1 (photo by M. Camunas).
By Jarrett Guthrie, Editor
Photos by Mike Camunas, Creative Director
TAMPA – After Friday night’s game at Jesuit, Plant head coach Dennis Braun had his players pile on the bench in the visitor’s dugout and delivered an abbreviated post-game, ending it with a simple message: “Now you guys see that you can play with absolutely anybody.”
Senior ace Robert Satin certainly came to play against the national Top 10 Jesuit Tigers. The lefty toyed with the Tigers, retiring the first 19 hitters he faced on the mound, before yielding a solo home run to Wes Mendes and a single to Jake Kulikowski in the seventh.
Robert Satin delivers a pitch during his complete-game effort on Friday. Satin improves to 5-0 on the mound this season.
But by that point, the Panthers had proven the Big Cats on the night, toppling the Tigers behind Satin and a solid third inning, taking a 4-1 win.
“It’s pretty surreal right now,” Satin said when asked where this start on the mound ranks in his career. “I’d say this was probably one of the best ones (game pitched), but my mind is spinning a little right now.”
Standing nearby, Braun interjected, “Go ahead and tell him this is your best game ever.”
Click here to view our photo gallery from this game.
The packed house was treated to a stellar opening two innings as Satin was countered on the mound by the first start of the season from fellow lefty Wes Mendes, who had primarily served as the Tigers designated hitter through the first half of the season due to some mild arm fatigue.
Wes Mendes struck out five in his two-inning season debut on the mound.
But there was little rust on the senior hurler as he struck out five in his two-innings of work, going back-and-forth with Satin as the two 2022 All-813Preps Pitchers of the Year (Mendes earned the 2A-5A honors, while Satin the 6A-7A) squared off.
Plant (10-3) failed to take advantage of the first of Jesuit’s five errors in the opening frame, but did not miss the opportunity in the third as Jack Meade reached second on a two-base throwing error, and scored a few batters later when Bryce Pelleriti torched a homer over the wall in left – his first of the season.
“I knew right off the bat, you just kind of feel it,” he said. “We knew this game would start out as a pitcher’s duel, so with what we had on the mound, it was going to be hard for any team to recover from that.”
Bryce Pelleriti rounds the bases after his third inning homer put Plant up by two runs.
Pelleriti suffered a concussion in the Panthers second game of the season and missed some time, but the senior has begun to heat up with a four-game hitting streak – including going 6-for-11 in three wins this week, with three doubles, three runs scored and five RBI.
“He had that concussion at Steinbrenner and ended up sitting out a week and a half,” Braun said of Pelleriti. “You know how that goes, you kind of have to start over again. But he got going a little bit during the Saladino, and he’s getting there now. He’s been an important part of this lineup the last three years, he’s our steady-Eddie guy, giving us good at-bats – and he gave us a damn good one tonight.”
The Panthers built on to the lead in the third, adding an RBI triple ripped down the line into right by Trey Freeman, who in-turn scored on a lined single by Tanner Swank.
That was all Satin needed, returning to the mound, mixing speeds and pumping in his changeup and curve around a swing-and-miss fastball.
“When my offense gives me an inning like that, it just gives me all the confidence in the world to go back out there,” he said. “We are playing as a team right now, and we’ve had some distractions, so I’m really happy with how we have responded.”
Jesuit (14-2) struggled against lefty pitching this week, as the Tigers dropped its first two games of the season on back-to-back nights to the Florida-signed Satin, and FAU signee Trey Beard of Dunedin, who fired in five no-hit innings in a 1-0 Falcons win on Thursday.
Down to its final outs, Jesuit flashed its first signs of offensive life with one out as Mendes worked the count full before sending his homer to left. Kulikowski sent the very next pitch to right for the Tigers final hit, as Satin got a fly out to third and his ninth strikeout to end the game.
Mendes arrives at the plate after his seventh-inning homer.
Defense let the Tigers down a bit on Friday, but Plant’s defenders were fully on board behind Satin with solid play from its middle infield Freeman (shortstop) and Swank (second base). The Panthers also got two highlight reel plays in the outfield, the first from left fielder Matthew Midyett who ran down a ball in the gap, and a home-sixth catch on the run from Pelleriti in center.
“Rob deals every time he goes out on that mound,” Pelleriti said. “It’s something rare to see, and you love to play defense behind him. Running one down like that while he’s out there is a lot of fun.”
Plant 3B Rocco DeMarinis makes a late adjustment, catching the second to last out.
Jesuit relievers Wilson Andersen (2 1/3ip, one hit, four strikeouts) and Derek Westfall (2ip, two K’s) held Plant scoreless in the final four innings.
Freshman pitcher Wilson Andersen stopped Plant’s scoring burst in the third, and struck out five in his 2.1ip.
Plant will take a seven-game win streak on the road to Sickles on Tuesday, while Jesuit hosts Male (Louisville, Ky.) on the same night.
⚾⚾⚾⚾
#5 Plant 4, #1 Jesuit 1
P 004|000|0 – |4|4|0
J 000|000|1 – |1|2|5
W – Satin (5-0); L – Chamberlin (3-1)
3B – Freeman (P); HR – Pelleriti (P); Mendes (J). Records – P (10-3); J (14-2).
