By FRANCIS FEDOR
francisfotography@outlook.com
Sumner led the South Shore Six (SS6) in Saladino tournament success, making it to the Silver division finals and getting another outstanding start from Ethan DeJesus in a 10-0 run-rule shortened championship victory. The win marks the first Saladino championship for the Sumner program. DeJesus tossed 9 2/3 innings in the tournament, racking up 23 strikeouts, and was named the Silver Division MVP. He is now third in Florida with 65 and only three K’s out of the state lead, behind two hurlers that have tossed more innings. The leader, Maicol Santiago from Kissimmee, has a roughly seven-inning advantage over DeJesus. DeJesus has faced the least number of hitters in the top-eight, adding to the incredible first-half of the season the senior is having. The Stingrays scored back-to-back three-run innings in the second and third to stake
DeJesus to a big early lead. Jaylin Chambers led the offense, driving in three, and Braylon Disla went 2-2 with a double and two RBIs to power the Rays to the Saladino Silver Championship and avenge an extra-inning (nine innings) 11-10 defeat to the Patriots back on Feb. 20 at Freedom.
The Stingrays preceded the win over Freedom with wins over Armwood and Hillsborough, both on St. Patrick’s day due to heavy rains that moved Monday action to Tuesday doubleheaders. Jaylin Chambers earned the 10-1 win over Armwood and set-down five Hawk hitters by way of the K. Erik Farmer lead with three RBIs, and Isaiah Romano drove in a couple to pace the Rays to the win.
Disla picked up the win in the 9-1 defeat over Hillsborough, joining the strikeout parade with eight of his own over six innings. Diankel Berrios drove in two runs, and Romano, Pennant and Cameron Pacquette each contributed an RBI. Pennant, who continues to lead the Rays with a season average of .413 and an on-base percentage of .525, went 3-4 in the nightcap.
The Stingrays have a busy week: after the Bloomingdale game in the Tank,they take to the road, playing Newsome (3/26), Spoto (3/28) and Leto (3/31), before returning home to play district rival Alonso on March 31.
Spoto advanced to the championship game in the Bronze division with wins over Brooks DeBartolo, 6-3, and winning a 14-13 in a slug-fest against Seffner Christian. The 14-run outburst was the second highest since the team’s opening 18-7 win in the first ever game at Morgan. The back-to-back wins were sorely needed for a program that was in an eight-game losing streak. While the Spartans fell short in the championship game against Chamberlain, the squad has a number of positives that they will look to use as they head back into regular season action after the spring-break Saladino tournament.
Extra-base hits defined the wins for the Spartans with Lavert Sims Jr. leading the way with four doubles, Eli Sims with two doubles and a triple, and Nathan Rodriguez and Braylen Byrd each contributed a double and triple. Antonio Roberts tossed a sterling game in the win over Brooks DeBartolo with 12 K’s and only allowing two earned runs.
Spoto has upcoming games vs. East Bay on March 26 and vs. Sumner on March 28 at 10A.
Lennard struggled in the Saladino tournament, played a Tuesday, March 17, doubleheader, traveling to Newsome, and struggled, losing to both Durant and Bloomingdale before returning home the next night and dropping an 8-1 consolation round game to Cambridge Christian.
The Longhorns, under the solid leadership of their head coach Victor Martinez and his staff, will look to put the tough first
half of the season behind them and rally the team to play for each other and take one game at a time.
The Longhorns travel to Riverview on March 26 for a SS6 rivalry game, play at home vs. Bishop McLaughlin Catholic on 3/30 and take to the road to face Hillsborough on the 31st.
East Bay and Lennard saw action in the toughest tier, the Gold division, and the Indians found success after an opening round loss to Gaither, with wins over Jefferson and Plant on doubleheader Tuesday. East Bay concluded the tournament with a tight 2-1 loss to Steinbrenner. Johnathan Bryant doubled in each of the
wins, and Ethan Cunningham came up with a key hit to drive in a couple in the key sixth-inning rally for the 3-0 win over Jefferson. Connor Gavigan picked up the win for the Indians. Byrant and Gavigan doubled and drove in a run in the nine-inning win over Plant. Bryant also drove in a run to lead the Indians to the exhilarating 2-1 walk-off victory. The Indians came up with timely hitting, only scoring in three of the sixteen innings, in the two wins.
Bloomingdale and Tampa Catholic played for the Gold superiority on Thursday, March 19, at the University of Tampa, with the Bulls taking the 2-0 win for the championship that set the plate for the highly anticipated match-up with Sumner this past Tuesday.
The Indians travel to Spoto on March 26 and play Robinson at home on 3/31 before a third meeting with Gaither on April 2 in a search for an elusive win over the Cowboys.
Riverview went 2-1 in the tournament with wins over Carrollwood Day HS, 8-1, and Hillsborough, 9-6, but dropped a tough 2-1 loss to Freedom that could have setup a SS6 rivalry match-up with the Sharks facing the Stingrays in the final. Peyton Newman had a strong tournament, going 5-8 with a double and two RBIs, while Yadiel Rivera-Morales was clutch in the win over CDHS with a three-RBI effort keyed by two
doubles. Newman also took the mound and tossed a masterful game for the win, striking out nine Patriot hitters. Driston Marino took the tough loss vs. Freedom while K’ing eight Freedom batters.
The Sharks play three games from March 25 to March 31, vs. Lennard (3/26), at Hillsborough (3/27) and vs. Steinbrenner (3/31) as the regular season winds to its end.
Morgan returns to play, facing Durant (3/26) in Wimauma, at BCA (3/27) and vs. Chamberlain (3/31).
Story or any parts of the story are copyright protected, including AI revisions, without permission of the editor. Full game gallery available for purchase at https://www.maxpreps.com/photography/photographers/ Florida-Francis Fedor Photography/Graphics Inquiries: Email: FrancisFotography@Outlook.com Phone: 202-683-9691
