Gulf Coast Rallies Late To Best Cardinal Gibbons

McLean Harris slides home to score the winning run for the Sharks.

The Cardinal Gibbons Chiefs traveled from Ft. Lauderdale to face host Gulf Coast for a Thursday night game. A close contest ended in excitement ashe last run slid home and ended the game with a 3-2 walk-off win for the Sharks.

“That last inning we hit the ball on the ground, and that made the difference,” said Sharks manager Pete Garcia. “We were off balance all night; we popped out quite a bit. But that last inning we were able to put the ball on the ground and it worked.”

An alert defense came in clutch for the Sharks as they turned two with two on in the top of the seventh. The third out came after shortstop Mason Dinesen fielded a ball off the glove of the pitcher and threw a runner out at first.

The Sharks were fired up heading into the bottom of the seventh. Two runners reached on consecutive errors and an intentional walk loaded the bases with no outs. With the infield in, Brandon Drugan came up and hit a screaming ground ball past the Chiefs’ shortstop. This hit brought in the tying run, and go-ahead run immediately followed to end the game.

“I want to give credit to Coach Garcia; he’s the best coach in Southwest Florida in my opinion,” said Drugan. “It feels good to get that hit and be there for my teammates because they’ve been there for me this whole season.”

Sharks’ starter Zach Lang gave up two early hits which put runners on second and third. Two straight outs got him out of the inning. Chiefs starter Donovan Conley also put two on but a clutch play by left-fielder Anthony Laney got them out of the inning.

The Sharks were up to bat again after three straight pop flys in the top of the inning. Conley only had to throw five pitches to get three quick outs in the bottom half.

Brandon Dinesen hit the game winning single, bringing in two runs in the bottom of the seventh.

The Chiefs offense couldn’t get anything started after Jack Durkin singled, as he was doubled up on a grounder to third. The Sharks put two on after a hit batter and a single from Niels Stone, and a sacrifice bunt from McLean Harris landed runners on second and third with two outs. Conley was able to strike out Tanner Ison to get out of the inning with the score still tied at zero.

In the fourth, after a lead-off single by Nico Rendina and a sac bunt from Joe Cerquozzi, a hit batter put runners on first and second. A double from Anthony Laney scored Rendina and Hall tagged up on a fly ball hit by Nick Diamond.

In the bottom half of the inning a two-out rally saw three consecutive singles which allowed Andrew Puglielli to score. A ground out ended the inning, leaving two Sharks on base.

The Chiefs brought in Brendan Vandyne and put two runners on in the fifth with one out, but an alert defensive play by catcher Shane Marshall got the lead runner out at second. Ty Crittenberger singled putting runners on first and second.  A balk moved them over into scoring position. With two outs designated hitter Rendina struck out to end the inning.

“I just tried to get outs and put my team in a position to win,” said Vandyne. “My slider felt really good today, everyone was missing it.”

The Sharks answered back with a triple from McLean Harris and two walks, loading the bases with two outs. A hard hit ball right to the left fielder ended the inning before any Sharks could cross the plate.

In the sixth the Chiefs put a runner on with two outs, but a runner was caught stealing to end the inning.

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