Vero Beach 3
Lake Braddock 0
The Vero Beach Fightin' Indians clinched a spot in the Championship bracket with a 3-0 shutout over the Lake Braddock Bruins on Tuesday morning.
Hunter Cooley was the story in this one. He tossed a complete game shut out for Vero Beach. Over seven innings, he allowed only two hits ... a single in the second and a single in the fifth. He walked one and struck out four as Lake Braddock was baffled by his mix of a power fastball and sharp breaking ball.
Not only did Cooley dominate on the mound, he helped himself with the biggest hit of the ballgame. In the first inning, with one out and two on, he roped a double in the gap, driving in teammates Nick Dean and David Luethje. Vero then added a third run in the sixth inning thanks to a Peter Holden RBI single.
Connor Glynn, who took the loss for Lake Braddock, had a game-high eight strikeouts on the mound.
IMG Gray 10
Somerset Academy 1
Travis Owens turned in a masterful performance for the IMG Ascenders, as he held the Somerset Academy Panthers without a hit over seven innings.
Owens started the game strong, setting the Panthers down in order in the first. He walked one batter in the second, but didn't face any further threats. The only blemish on his day came in the third. He walked the leadoff batter, who eventually came around to score on a throwing error. From then on, the senior lefty settled in and retired the final 14 batters of the game in a row.
The Ascenders provided plenty of offense in the win. Benino Mendella had a bases-clearing double in the second inning to put IMG up 3-0. In the sixth inning, Will Bartlett copied his teammate with a three-RBI double of his own. Justin Derrick, Tucker Mitchell, and Pat Romeri all added RBI in the inning as well.
Hialeah Educational Academy 12
Lakes 0
The HEA Bulldogs put a dozen on the board in a mercy-rule shortened matchup against Lakes High School on Tuesday afternoon.
The Bulldogs scored in all four innings that they batted. They were able to take advantage of eleven walks from the Eagles' pitching staff, as well as two errors. The highlight for the Bulldogs came in the second when Bryan Pazos sent a ball deep over the left field wall with the bases loaded for a grand slam. Marcos Soler had a solid game as well, adding two hits and three RBI.
Alejandro Caballero took home the win for HEA, lasting four shutout innings. He gave up two hits, did not walk a batter, and added one strikeout to his ledger.
James Madison 9
Westminster Christian 8
The James Madison Warhawks took home a hard-fought victory over Westminster Christian on Tuesday afternoon.
In what was easily the most exciting game of the week so far, the two teams went back and forth for all seven innings. Madison put three on the board in the first with back-to-back-to-back RBI from Ethan Lipp, Nate Leas and Brendan Sweeney. The lead didn't last though, as the Warriors scored four in the top of the second thanks in large part to two errors from the Warhawks. Madison bounced back in the bottom half, adding two on an error and RBI single from Lipp to regain the lead, 5-4.
The Warhawks added one more in the fourth to make it 6-4. The score would remain that way until the seventh inning.
Westminster opened the inning by drawing three straight walks to load the bases. Anthony Vilar singled home Jayden Melendez to make it 6-5. After two straight pop outs, it looked like Madison might escape the jam. Nicky Perez had other plans though, as he cleared the bases with a double to give Westminster an 8-6 lead.
Ethan Lipp started the comeback with a solo home run to lead off the bottom half of the seventh. The next two hitters flew out, leaving Westminster just one out from victory. Tey would not get that final out though. The next three Warhawks reached base via error, single and hit by pitch. Sam Kobayashi and Carson Hoffman then wrapped the game up with back to back bases loaded walks, making the final score of 9-8.
Matt Howat was the standout pitcher for Madison. In six innings, he scattered three hits and allowed only one earned run. He also struck out nine hitters. Lipp was the offensive star, turning in a 4-4 day with a run scored and four RBI.
Miami Palmetto 5
Dunedin 3
The Palmetto Panthers added their second win in two days after taking home Tuesday's nightcap over the Dunedin Falcons by a score of 5-3.
Victor Valderrama started the scoring for the Panthers with an RBI single in the bottom of the first. Dunedin was quick to respond with two runs scored on an error in the top half. Palmetto had an answer of their own in the bottom of the second thanks to singles from Charles Kavalir and Alex Castaneda.
Dunedin squared things up with an RBI groundout from Jonathan Hubbard in the third inning. This time it took a whole inning before Palmetto answered back. It was Kavalir who came though again, first with an RBI single, then by scoring on a wild pitch. Valderrama took control from there, not allowing another run in his complete game victory.
Schedule for Wednesday March 28
All Games at Sanford Memorial Stadium
9 AM: Southwest Miami vs. Buccholz
11:30 AM: Strongsville vs. East Lake
2:00 PM: Pompano Beach vs. Gainesville
4:30 PM: Taravella vs. Cooper City
7:00 PM: Westfield vs. St. John's Country Day