A few “feet” separate Plant from Sumner
Emotions explode from Plant senior Garrett Hill as his fifth strikeout of the night finishes off his complete-game 2-1 victory over Sumner.
By Chuck Frye, Senior Staff Writer
TAMPA – Baseball has forever been known as a game of inches, but for Plant, Tuesday’s district semifinal against Sumner turned into a game of feet.
In an impactful fourth inning, one foot took away a shot at putting a runner in scoring position, but another foot positioned what would be the Panthers’ winning tally in a tense, 2-1 thriller at Wade Boggs Field.
With teammate Ethan Dejesus backing him up, Sumner third baseman Sebastian Peralta catches a fifth-inning fly ball.
Tied 1-1 with one out in the bottom of the fourth, Tanner Swank lost out advancing from first base when an errant pickoff throw hit the foot of the first base umpire and stayed near the bag. Swank did move to second on a Jackson Cucchi base hit before getting the benefit of another foot, that of a Sumner infielder who was ruled to have obstructed Swank on another pickoff play. Now poised at third, Swank’s speed caused a low return throw to the plate on a double steal, sliding home with what would turn out to be the winning tally.
After advancing to third on a fourth-inning obstruction call on Sumner, Plant senior Tanner Swank sells out to slide home with what would be the game’s winning run.
“We haven’t scored a ton of runs each game (about six on average this season) so we knew we’d have to push a couple of buttons,” Panthers head coach Dennis Braun said. “Putting on pressure at this level is pretty important in these type of games. We made (Sumner) make some plays and they weren’t able to make one of them.”
And empowered with the lead, Plant senior Garrett Hill knew what he had to do to preserve it – using the same game plan he’s followed the entire year.
“I expected a close game,” Hill said. “It’s all about throwing strikes, doing what we need to do … just getting the runs we need and shutting them down.”
Plant senior Garrett Hill went the distance for the district semifinal victory, getting three of his five strikeouts to clinch the contest in the seventh inning.
Mixing a deceptive variety of off-speed pitches, Hill kept the Stingray lineup at bay for the majority of his complete-game effort, scattering six hits – with three of those off the bat of opposing starter Anthony Jacquez.
Sumner senior Anthony Jacquez signals to his bench after picking up his third single of the game.
The visitors did break through with their own successful first-and-third set play in the top of the fourth as Winston Pennant (hit by pitch) scampered home to tie the contest, then got another into scoring position in the sixth. Looking for a key hit like it received the day before in a walk-off quarterfinal win over Riverview, Zach Hutchinson drilled a deep fly to right-centerfield but Cucchi was able to track it down to end the threat.
“It feels good to get backup from my teammates,” Hill said. “I knew they weren’t going to score again. I knew I was going to keep throwing, keep challenging them … I knew I was going to win it.”
Plant catcher James Leach blocks a low fourth-inning throw as Winston Pennant slides in safely behind him to convert a well-run first-and-third play while the Stingrays’ Isaias Welch (6) guides Pennant home.
And Hill took it into his own hands to accomplish that, wrapping three of his five-strikeout total around a lone seventh-inning single from Luke Parson to lock down the victory.
Jacquez was effective pitching out of trouble, yielding five hits and fanning five while stranding three Panther runners in scoring position.
Sometimes it works: Trying to score from first on Matthew Midyett’s second-inning double, Plant’s Jackson Cucchi (27) looks to be sliding into Sumner’s Daniel Dugarte tag, but the throw skipped past the catcher, allowing Cucchi to score the game’s first run.
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Sometimes it doesn’t: This time Dugarte has the ball and tags out Midyett on an attempted safety squeeze bunt in the second inning.
However, his defense struggled under pressure. In addition to the fourth-inning marker, aggressive running from Cucchi (single) on Matthew Midyett’s second-inning double forced another wild throw to the plate to give the hosts the early advantage.
“We didn’t need (anything) big, no big home runs or anything … it was about getting some runners on and executing like we did (Tuesday),” Hill said.
After hustling to his left, Plant second baseman Tanner Swank fires the ball to first for a first-inning out.
“Pressure helps but we’ve been in a lot of close games,” Bruan said. “A lot of these kids have played in some important games (like Plant’s run to last year’s state final). (Sumner) is a solid team and a pretty young team that keeps getting better. We knew coming in this would be a tough game and it helps them to just do their normal things and not do something they shouldn’t.”
Plant third baseman Urban Ellis grimaces as he rifles a fourth-inning throw across the diamond.
Now with an 18-8 record, second seed Plant will travel to No.1-seed Palm Harbor University on Thursday afternoon to play for the Class 7A-District 7 title. The visiting Stingrays’ now wait to see if a 15-7 mark and the program’s first winning campaign in their four years of existence, will be enough to earn them a spot in the region playoffs (currently 10thin the region on the FHSAA ranking board, with another reseeding set for after the district finals).
Senior Rocco DeMarinis (3-4 record, 2.91 ERA) will get the ball Thursday against PHU, as Plant takes another step toward its goal of a return visit to Fort Myers.
Sumner first baseman Riley Stevens steps on the bag after corralling a Plant grounder to end the first inning.
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Plant catcher James Leach pounces on a Sumner bunt, throwing the batter out in second-inning action.
⚾ Class 7A-District 7 Semifinal ⚾
#7 Plant 2, Sumner 1
S 000|100|0 – |1|6|4
P 010|100|x – |2|5|1
W – Hill (7-2); L – Jacquez (3-2)
2B – Parson (S); Midyett (P). Records – S (15-7); P (18-7).
Sumner shortstop Ethan Dejesus waits in vain for the throw as Plant’s Connor Fulmino advances on a second-inning passed ball.
