Newsome trio toss shutout gem in district title win

By Lily Belcher, Staff Writer

PLANT CITY – Closer Isaiah Sanchez dashed to first, touching the bag for the final out of the District 7A-6 championship, before taking two jumping steps into the crowd of cheering Wolves teammates. Gloves and water flew into the air over the swarm of players.

Newsome had claimed the title in a 2-0 battle against Durant, Thursday night.

Sanchez came in for the final out of the seventh with the winning run at the plate. Though the situation was tight, he said he had, “all the confidence in the world.”

“I have the best eight defenders behind me in the county,” he said.

Sanchez was one of two relief pitchers to come in for the Wolves. Varsity rookie JP Glassford had tossed five frames with three strikeouts and just one hit allowed.

Glassford started the season recovering from a rotator cuff injury that sidelined him from pitching at the beginning of the season.

“It means a lot with coach having faith in me to pitch in one of the biggest games of our season,” he said.

Preparation for the championship started with Newsome’s fall ball team. The district tournament was just a matter of putting the skills to the test.

Coach Dick Rohrberg said he gave his team a light practice on Wednesday. Newsome (20-6) came back from a late game Tuesday night at Winter Haven, so the team was tired and sore, Rohrberg said.

After being held scoreless by the Cougars, the Wolves scored a pair of runs in the sixth that would secure the championship title.

Durant’s ace Blaine Rowland was nearing 90 pitches after tossing five shut-out innings when the top of Newsome’s lineup stepped up to the plate.

Cash Peterson and Anthony DeVito hit back-to-back singles, before Braden Moon placed a short bunt down the third base line. Moon, who leads the Wolves with 17 RBI and seven homers, said the bunt was his way of passing the torch to the rest of the lineup and trusting the guys behind him.

“I kind of knew in that situation I needed to get it down for the team,” Moon said.

Ocean Cozart hit a single, allowing Peterson to score, and DeVito crossed moments later on a sacrifice fly. Newsome’s half of the crowd roared.

“I think it all just came together, realizing that we ought to get some hits and we can’t win with no runs,” Glassford said.

One out away from the win, Durant put two runners on. Ryan Harris, who pitched 1.2 innings with a pair of strikeouts to start the bottom of the seventh, was relieved by Sanchez.

“Just get ahead early and score first, and just try and hold that lead,” Harris said about the team’s mindset coming into the game.

Sanchez retrieved a ground ball back to the mound by Durant’s Tyler Macpherson for the final out.

After the Cougars had taken the title from the Wolves’ claws in the 2022 and 2023 championship, it was Newsome’s turn to hoist the trophy above their heads in a rowdy celebration.

The regionals tournament will start Tuesday with the win earning the Wolves a spot as the district champs, while Durant (21-4) entered the week No. 3 in the FHSAA region rankings and should earn an at-large bid as well.

Class 7A-6 Championship

#6 Newsome 2, #1 Durant 0