Big Inning Lifts Sarasota Christian Over Seacrest Country Day

Catcher Cameron Carmona embraces his closer after the final out of the game.

The Sarasota Christian Blazers came down from Sarasota to battle for the 2A-6 championship Thursday afternoon against the Seacrest Country Day Stingrays.

The Blazers put up seven runs in the second inning and kept the lead until the end of the game to win 9-3.

“We capitalized on a lot of their mistakes; it gave us confidence,” said manager Chris Lee. “Our pitcher just came off a sickness and pitched well and our defense did a great job, with no errors.”

Center fielder Josue Rivera led off with a walk and then stole second.  Matt DiNorcia came up next and laid down a well-placed bunt, earning him a single and landing Rivera on third. A double-steal brought him home and put a runner on second with no outs. The Blazers then bounced back after throwing a runner out, recording a strikeout and getting a routine grounder to end the inning with the Rays up one.

The Blazers put up seven runs in the second, led off by Teddy Mullet, who singled and moved over after a sacrifice bunt. A hit batter and a walk loaded the bases. Jordan Schmucker singled in two runs. Grady Martin singled to load the bases again. Errors then plagued the Rays after two botched plays allowed two more batters to cross the plate. A single by Mullet put the Blazers up by six before the inning eventually ended after a line drive to the second baseman.

“I was pumped and ready to hit today. I was swinging at everything and swinging hard and good things happen when you swing the bat,” Teddy Mullet said.

The Blazers put two runners on with two outs in the first. But, after two walks, Rays starter Travis Torosian struck out his second batter for the third out.

In the third the Rays defense stepped up and turned two to end a quick inning. When they came up to bat, a lead-off double from Rivera and a sacrifice fly brought in a run, cutting the deficit to five.

Tyler Lopes had an RBI in the Rays’ loss.

“I knew I had a good defense behind me and I believe in them so I just throw strikes,” said Blazers starter Grady Martin. “I was able to bounce back after that first run and throw strikes.”

In the sixth the Blazers added two to their lead. Martin singled and moved to third after a passed ball and a walk. Cameron Carmona singled and brought him in. A throwing error brought in Blake Schlaback and the Blazers now had nine.

In the bottom half Erick Chavez hit a solo home run, making it 9-3. That was the hit of the inning for the Rays as they went down 1-2-3 after that. That was the last offense that the Rays saw, as the game ended in the bottom of the seventh.

“I thought we had some good energy when we came out in the first inning,” said Rays manager Mark Marsala “But those errors killed us. We really hurt ourselves in the second inning. We have to play defense if we want to win championships.”

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