Mariner Outlasts Island Coast In 6A-11 Showdown

District rivals Mariner Tritons and the Island Coast Gators battled Tuesday night in their first 6A-11 action of the season. Both pitching staffs had strong outings, but three runs in the third and fourth inning for the Tritons were enough for the home team to hold off the Gators, 3-2, and pick up their first district win of the season.

The Gators (0-3, 0-1) opened the scoring in the top of the first inning on a bunt-single from Alex Perez that scored Chase Chatman. Lefty David Mata started the game for the Gators and through the first two innings allowed just two base runners, one on a hit and the other on a walk.

Louis Alberro tied the game in the third inning for the Tritons (2-1, 1-0) with a pop fly to right field, scoring Alex Freeland. Two at-bats later, Alberro scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice hit from Dominic Grim. Freeland added another run in the fourth inning to give the Tritons a 3-1 lead, this time off the bat of Andrew Arsenault, who took the first pitch he saw and sent it into left field for a double.

A second RBI from Perez in the top of the fifth brought the Gators to within one, but that was all they could muster for the rest of the game, even with being walked eight times and having three hit batsmen on the night. Forrest Theune and Chatman lead the team by reaching base twice on the night.

Despite walking seven batters, Tritons’ starter Daniel Varner settled down and limited the damage, pitching six solid innings. He allowed two runs on two hits and struck out two in the victory. Arsenault relieved Varner in the seventh and struck out two batters to secure the district win and pick up the save.

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