Player of the Day: Brandon White, Winter Springs 4-4, 3B, 2 R, 4 RBI
Pitcher of the Day: Levi Kelly, IMG Academy
6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 13 K
Boone 8
Smith Cotton 2
A low scoring pitcher’s duel turned into a late blowout win for the Boon Braves, who defeated the Smith Cotton Tigers 8-2 on Wednesday morning.
The first fifteen batters of the game were put down in order thanks to impressive starts from Jacob Burr (Boone) and Jayce Simoncic (SC). Jimmy Robbins of Boone recorded the first hit of the game in the bottom of the third inning, but was left stranded.
After Burr blanked the Tigers once again in the fourth, he received some offensive help from his teammates in the bottom half. Chris Jones led the inning off with a triple, and was quickly brought in on an RBI groundout from Tyler Colson, making it 1-0. The Tigers got the run back in the top of the fifth when Baxter Mays doubled, and Tristen Jackson tripled him home. Things would go south quickly after that, however.
The Braves offense erupted for seven runs on eight hits in the bottom of the fifth. They sent twelve men to the plate, with Josias Ridley getting on base twice. Layton Wojtas, Tyler Colson, Tim Kaiser, Garrett Stillwell, Ridley and Robbins all recorded RBI in the inning. The Tigers would score one more run in the final frame, but would ultimately come up short, losing 8-2.
Burr took home the win with a line of 6.1 innings, allowing three hits and two runs, walking one and striking out four. Chris Jones, Tim Kaiser, Josias Ridley and Jimmy Robbins each recorded two hits in the win for Boone, who now stand at 1-1. Baxter Mays had two hits and a double to lead Smith Cotton, who are now also 1-1 for the week.
Royal Palm Beach 3
Escambia 0
Logan Pittman absolutely shut down the Escambia Gators in game two on Wednesday, tossing a complete game shutout as Royal Palm Beach took the game by a score of 3-0.
Pittman had his best stuff early, racking up five strikeouts in the first three innings, including K’ing the side in the second. He was in control throughout the entire game as the Gators failed to get a runner past second base. Pittman totaled nine strikeouts on the day and didn’t walk a batter.
Royal Palm scored three runs to back their pitcher, with one coming on a groundout in the second and a pair coming on two RBI singles in the sixth. Troy Hamilton, Sheldon Emilcare and Nick Toney each had a hit and a run scored for the Wildcats, who move to 1-1 for the week. Escambia falls to 0-2.
Olympia 8
Leesburg 0
Aaron Bogovic and the Olympia offense made quick work of the Leesburg Yellow Jackets, taking the mid-Wednesday matchup by a score of 8-0.
Bogovic needed only 81 pitches to get through his complete game shutout. He allowed two hits, both singles, and did not walk a batter in his outing. He recorded seven strikeouts with a nice mix of fastballs and breaking stuff.
The powerful Titan offense provided more than enough run support, scoring at least run in five of their six innings at the plate. Francis Villaman picked up an RBI single in the first, scoring Jordan Morrow. In the second, a sac fly from Alex Marrero made it 2-0. A pair of runs came across in the fourth thanks to a double steal and a wild pitch. Jon Levin plated Drenis Ozuna in the fifth, and then Ozuna capped off the scoring with a two-run bomb to left field in the sixth.
Ozuna would finish 2-3 on the day with the home run, two runs scored, two RBI, a walk and a steal.
Winter Springs 10
Clewiston 0
5 innings
The Winter Springs bats came out hot in game four on Wednesday, putting up ten runs on twelve hits in only five innings as the Bears made quick work of the Clewiston Tigers.
Thirteen Bears came to the plate in the bottom of the first inning, scoring nine runs on seven hits. They were also assisted by two errors, two passed balls, a wild pitch and a walk. Tyler Pelczar, Brandon White and Juan Carlos Abreu each reached base two times during the inning, with White picking up three RBI. First baseman Altoon Coleman launched a homerun into the left field stratosphere as well.
The early lead was more than enough run support for starter Alex Goff and reliever Brandon Torrence. Goff threw two innings, giving up two hits and striking out one. Torrence completed the game for the Bears, tossing three innings and earning the win. He scattered three hits and struck out two. The game ended in the fifth when Brandon White ripped a single to center field, his fourth hit of the game, scoring Parker Laffrey for the ten run rule victory.
IMG Academy 9
Timber Creek 5
Wednesday’s night cap was a tale of two ballgames. IMG starter Levi Kelly turned in the most dominant start of the tournament thus far before Timber Creek made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh.
Kelly was on fire, showcasing a fastball in the low 90s and a nasty breaking pitch. In six innings of work, the sophomore right hander struck out 13 batters and gave up one hit, a single in the fifth inning. Any bats that happened to make contact produced weak grounders and popouts for the most part.
IMG’s bats needed some time to wake up, but once they got going, they poured it on. Five hits in the fourth inning provided five runs for the Ascenders, with RBI coming from Matt Lynch, Tony Jones, Gabe Lozada and Andrew Flaherty. They would then add one run in the fifth and three in the seventh to go up 9-0.
Many thought the game might be over, but Timber Creek battled in their last frame. Sloppy defense plagued IMG, as they committed four errors in the inning. The Wolves would end up plating five runs in the bottom half, but would fall short of the comeback, losing 9-5.
Matt Lynch was 2-3 with a double, two runs scored and four RBI to pace the IMG offense. Isa Mamudoski had two of the three hits for Timber Creek, and scored once.
Thursday’s Schedule
Sanford Memorial Stadium
9:00 am University Christian vs. Timber Creek
11:30 am Boone vs. Royal Palm Beach
2:00 pm Olympia vs. Winter Springs
4:30 pm IMG Academy vs. Taravella
7:00 pm Bentonville vs. Jupiter
Lake Brantley High School
9:00 am Winter Park vs. Ponte Vedra
11:30 am Seabreeze vs. Trinity Christian
2:00 pm Tampa Prep vs. Lake Brantley
4:30 pm American Heritage vs. University
Seminole High School
9:00 am Seminole vs. Cooper City
11:30 am Leesburg vs. Escambia
2:00 pm Smith Cotton vs. Clewiston