Small Ball Leads Barron Collier To Big Win Against Lely

First baseman Nick DeNove prepares for a throw. DeNove had three hits to lead the Cougars offense.

The Barron Collier Cougars took the lead against the Lely Trojans in the bottom of the fourth and didn’t look back. It was a competitive game, but in the sixth some patient at bats helped the Cougars expand their lead by eight to close out the 11-1 victory.

“We have a lot of speed on our team, we try to create opportunity instead of sitting back and giving away at-bats.” said Cougars manager Charlie Maurer. “We woke up towards the end, and our pitching was phenomenal. Our pitchers go out with a can’t-lose mentality.”

Barron Collier improved to 5-4 overall, but more importantly the Cougars take sole possession of 6A-12 with a 2-0 mark.

The bats were quiet until the fourth, when a double by Trojans second baseman Gabe Lopez got the offense started. Lopez was moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Keegan and then scored on another bunt by Luis Diaz. A strikeout ended the side with the Trojans (6-2, 2-1) up by one.

In the bottom half of the inning Billy Zeliff led off with a single, and a well-placed bunt by Nick DeNove landed runners on first and second. A balk moved both runners into scoring position. Second baseman Marcus Crabtree then laid down a bunt to score Zeliff, while he made it to first. A passed ball allowed DeNove to score and Crabtree to move to second. From there Crabtree stole third and was brought home after a double by Johnathan Newman. This put the Cougars up two headed into the fifth.

“I was trying to see the ball well tonight.” said Crabtree. “And when coach gave me the bunt sign it helped me get on.”

Gabe Lopez hit a double and had the only run for the Trojans.

The Trojan offense could not get much going against Cougars’ starter Logan Langham. He went three innings, striking out six and only allowing one hit. After their run in the fourth the offense remained dormant against Cougars’ reliever John D’Amelio, only reaching base twice.

“With a team like this I tried to get the ball into play and throw strikes,” said Langham. “I trusted my defense to take care of me.”

The story was the opposite with the Cougars. In the sixth, after two errors allowed a run to score, the Trojans walked six straight batters, surrendering four more runs. Another single by DeNove scored two more, and a bunt by Crabtree brought in the final run of the game for the Cougars.

“I don’t think the score indicated how we played,” said Trojans’ manager Greg Drombowski. “I think we competed well, especially early in the game. We are going to keep our heads up and make adjustments in our next couple of games.”

Leave a comment using your facebook account!