The Blazer Baseball team faced off against Saint Stephen's Episcopal School for a 2A District 11 Quarterfinal match-up. The match-up was the third of the year between the two teams, with the Blazers taking both 10-6 & 17-2.
Justin Brock was handed the ball for his 8th appearance of the year. Brock went into the game with a 4.109 ERA. His last outing, last Thursday, ended after 2 innings of one hit baseball due to discomfort in his hamstring. Brock allowed just four hits and gave away just two free passes to limit base runners, while the Blazer defense played well, committing just one error on an attempt to steal second base. Brock finished the night with a four hit complete game shutout to earn the 5-0 win.
The Blazers were silent at the plate until the bottom of the fifth inning. Coming off of an inning where a go-ahead run was cut down at the plate by
Evan Poznanski, the Blazers got things started with one out as Brock came up to the plate and singled to center field. Brock then stole second base, giving
Alex Hefti a runner in scoring position. Hefti came through with a single to center field, but the hit wasn't enough to score Brock as Coach Tucker chose to hold him at third with the Blazers top hitter,
Evan Poznanski, coming to the plate. Poznanski entered the game with a .500 batting average with runners in scoring position. Poznanski came through with a single to left field that got past the left fielder and allowed both runners to score, with Poznanski ending up on second base. The Blazers would load the bases with walks to
Randall Collins and
Isaiah Miller, but couldn't push across another run and continued on to the sixth inning with a 2-0 lead. The top of the sixth was a quick inning for the Blazers, with ground outs to Poznanski and Hefti, and Brock striking out his 3rd batter of the game. The Blazers would come back up to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning and get things started with one out again as
Rowan Baum walked to turn over the lineup and bring Brock up to the plate with one out. Brock singled to centerfield and both runners advanced an additional base on the play as the center fielder couldn't corral the ball. With runners at second and third, Hefti hit a hard liner that was just inside the reach of the second baseman, but he couldn't hold on to the ball through his diving attempt and Hefti raced to first base for the single, scoring Baum and placing Brock on third base. Hefti would steal second base on the first pitch, giving Poznanski a chance to hit with two runners in scoring position again. Poznanski doubled on a line drive to the left fielder that took a bad hop and scooted past him, scoring both Brock and Hefti. This would round out the scoring for both teams as Brock would allow two runners in the seventh, before ending the game with his fourth strikeout.
The Blazers move to 10-10-1 on the season and will face the #1 Sharks of Imagine School of North Port tonight at 7pm. The Sharks are 12-9 on the season, 3-1 in the district, and will be a tough foe. Both teams have played and won against Saint Stephen's Episcopal and the Gulf Coast Heat. Inside the district, Imagine has played against #2 The Out-of-Door Academy twice and split the games, losing 1-6 and winning 5-2, while the Blazers faced off against #3 Bradenton Christian School twice and lost both games 2-6 & 4-5.
Randall Collins will likely take the mound for the Blazers, going into the game with a 2.58 ERA, with 56 strikeouts over 40.2 innings. The Sharks are coming off of a 10-3 victory over Charlotte High School last Saturday and will look to one of three pitchers to face the Blazers. Alexis Pereira currently holds a 4.05 ERA, striking out 29 over 27.2 innings, Jacob Lombard has a 3.43 ERA and 48 strikeouts over 34.2 innings, while RJ Cooper holds a 1.92 ERA with 61 strikeouts over 40 innings. The game will be played at Atwater Community Park, 4475 Skyway Ave. North Port, FL 34288.
