Southwest Florida Christian Tops Marco Island Academy

Marco Island Academy gave it all they had against its district rivals, but the Rays eventually fell to the Southwest Florida Christian Kings 6-5 on a walk-off RBI by Max Rippi on Monday afternoon. It was the second win in a row for the 5-2 Kings. With a perfect 5-0 district record, they are embroiled in a tight race and are tied with two other teams for the 3A-6 lead.

Rippi starred for the Kings all night, enjoying a three-hit performance at the plate and also striking out four batters in two innings of mound work. He and his teammates got off to a hot start, riding a two-run double by Justin Vasquez to a commanding 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

After that, it might have looked as though the Kings would run away with it, but the Rays (2-6, 0-5) slowly chipped away at the lead. They scored two in the third before Andrew Delgado led off the fourth with a base hit and then worked his way around for a run that narrowed the Kings’ lead to 4-3. They finally drew even in the top of the fifth on a successful squeeze play.

The Kings jumped back on top in the bottom half. Mike Gerwitz led off with a single and Chris Lynn followed with a double into left field. Jerry McConell tallied the RBI by bringing Gerwitz home with a sacrifice fly.

Still, the Rays persisted. A lead-off walk by Marcus Seidman helped them to pull even again, 5-5.

Rippi’s winning single in the seventh was preceded by back-to-back hits by Noah Sheffield and Cade Daughtery, and it was Sheffield who came across to score the winning run.

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