The Durant Cougars Varsity baseball team entered Tuesday’s game with a record of 13-3, riding a two-game winning streak against Newsome and Plant City. They took on the Riverview Sharks, who entered the game with a record of 3-14, looking for their first home win since March 12.
Nick April-Gath led off for the Cougars and flew out to center field. Blaine Rowland drew a walk in his first at bat which put one on. Chase Mobley struck out which made it two outs with Brantley Howard up in the cleanup spot. During the at bat, a wild pitch advanced Rowland to second, followed by Rowland stealing third after the following pitch. Howard doubled with a missile of a ball sent past the third base line, bringing in Rowland for the Cougar’s first run of the game. Jackson McClellan hit in the fifth spot and flew out to left field in his first at bat.
Tristan Macpherson took the mound for the Cougars and drew an out on his very first pitch of the game as the leadoff Riverview Shark lined out to first. Macpherson walked the second and third batters, putting two on with the cleanup hitter looking to take the lead for the Sharks. After a full count was forced, the clean-up hitter popped out to first base, making it two outs for the Sharks. The bases were loaded after a third walk for Macpherson and a fourth walk brought in a runner in to tie it. After a fifth walk and another run brought in from it, the Cougars opted for a pitching change, bringing in Lonnie Coburn. Riverview wasted no time welcoming the new pitcher with a two-run double. After another walk, the bases were loaded. A balk on Durant advanced all runners on base, bringing in another score for the Sharks. Back-to-back singles for the Sharks brought in two more runs for Riverview. Durant opted for their third pitcher of the inning, bringing in Gehrig Graham. Another Cougars balk, advanced Riverview runners to second and third. The bases were loaded for the Sharks but they flew out to centerfield, ending the inning with Riverview up 7-1.
Tristan Brown led off the inning for the Cougars and singled past the first base line. Pete Oderio got his first at bat for the Cougars and got a walk. Dylan Hotz’s at bat was with 2 on, zero outs and he bunted safely but at the cost of getting Brown out at third. Shawn Graves was up and got out, which brought Nick April-Gath up for the secdon time through the order, he dropped a bunt and loaded bases for the Cougars. Blaine Rowland got his second at bat and they got a balk, bringing in a run for the Cougars. Rowland got a double, bringing in two for the Cougars. Chase Mobley hit a missile to centerfield, which put runners on corners with two outs. Brantley Howard was up with two on and Mobley stole second, followed by a balk from Riverview, bringing in Rowland for the Cougars. Howard doubled, which dropped the Sharks lead to just one run. Jackson McClellan was hit by a pitch, which put two runners on for Durant and a wild pitch advanced both runners. Tristan Brown grounded out to head to the bottom of the second, down 1.
Gehrig Graham came back out to pitch in the bottom of the second and struck out the first Sharks batter, followed by a quick pop out to the catcher. It was three up three down, as the third batter flew out to left field for a quick 1, 2, 3. End of the second had a score of 7-6 with Riverview up.
Pete Oderio led off in the third and got a four pitch walk. Dylan Hotz reached safely again but Oderio was out at second. Shawn Graves flew out to left field, which brought Nick April-Gath back up for the third time and he singled, bringing in Hotz, which tied the game at 7 with two outs. Nick April-Gath stole second and third during Blaine Rowland’s at bat. The Sharks balked once again, and brought in April-Gath for the score, which gave the Cougars the lead, after being down 6 at the end of the first. Right after that, the Sharks went to the bullpen for their second pitcher of the game. Rowland stole second which put a runner on second with Chase Mobley back up, but he flew out to right field to end the inning.
Gehrig Graham returned to the mound for the Cougars and stayed hot, striking out his first two batters to start the bottom of the third. The third batter had a hard-fought at bat, but it resulted in a ground out to second to end the inning. At the end of the third, the Cougars are on top, 8-7.
Brantley Howard led off in the top of the fourth for the Cougars, looking to keep his double streak alive as he doubled in the first and third innings. While it wasn’t a double, Howard got his third of the game with a single up the middle. During Jackson McClellan’s at bat, Howard stole second, then advanced to third after a bad throw from the Sharks. McClellan hit a sacrificed fly, getting out, but brought in Howard. Tristan Brown struck out and that brought up Pete Oderio, who was walked in his last at bat. Oderio singled up the middle to keep the inning alive. Nick Maurello subbed in for his first at bat of the game and struck out, which sent it to the bottom of the fourth, with the Cougars scoring one run in the inning.
Once again, Gehrig Graham started the inning for the Cougars in the bottom of the fourth. The bottom of the 4th started with a single through second and shortstop for the Sharks, which was the first hit allowed by Graham. The second batter flew out deep to left field for the first out of the inning. Graham struck out the next two batters to end the fourth, Durant up 9-7.
Shawn Graves led off to start the fifth inning for the Cougars and drew a walk. Nick April-Gath grounded out but advanced Graves to second. Blaine Rowland got an RBI opportunity and he got help with Graves stealing third. Rowland tripled based off pure hustle. Chase Mobley hit a sacrificed fly, scoring Rowland. Brantley Howard was up for the fourth time through the lineup and was walked. Jackson McClellan looked to get on base after hitting a sacrifice fly in his last at-bat, but ended up popping out to send it to the bottom of the fifth.
Graham came back out for the Cougars and got a first pitch out on the Sharks, which followed a quick fly out to center field. Graham ended the fifth with a nasty curveball for a looking strikeout for the Sharks. The Cougars were up 11-7 to end the fifth.
Tristan Brown led off the sixth for the Cougars and got a standup double. Pete Oderio was at bat again, but before he started, the Sharks balked, advancing Brown to third. Oderio grounded out to second for the first out and Cooper Hughes checked in for the first time, grounding out to second. Brady Kelley checked in and flew out.
Gehrig Graham stayed hot, striking out the leadoff Riverview batter. The second batter got a single. After the hit, Graham settled back in with his second strikeout of the inning. The inning ended with the Cougars catcher throwing out the runner at second, caught stealing. The score remained 11-7 Cougars as they went to the seventh inning.
Nick April-Gath led off in the seventh and reached second after a dropped ball from right field. Blaine Rowland doubled with a bomb to center field. Chase Mobley was up after a Riverview pitcher change. He struck out for the Cougars first out of the inning. Brantley Howard crushed a ball over the left fielder for a double, which was his fourth hit of the game. Jackson McClellan was walked after taking a pitch to the helmet. Tristan Brown reached base safely but got McClellan out in the process at second. Pete Oderio was up and a wild pitch scored a run for the Cougars, followed by Oderio getting walked. Cooper Hughes got his second at bat and his first hit of the game with a nice double that barely dropped fair right between first base and right field. Brady Kelley cleared the bases with a 2-run single which was his first hit of the game. Nick April-Gath popped out to first, which sent it to the bottom of the seventh, but not before the Cougars scored 6 runs.
Jack Brooks came in to close out the game for the Cougars. The Sharks started the seventh with a crushing single over the third baseman. The second batter grounded out but advanced the leadoff runner to second. Brooks then struck out the third batter, throwing absolute heat. The Sharks grounded out and the game ended with Durant winning by 10, final 17-7.
It was a great come from behind victory for the Cougars. “This team is special man. We’ve been mixing more guys in throughout the lineup as of late, but this team continues to put things together at the right time,” Coach Valdez said. “When his name (Gehrig Graham) was called upon, he led us to exactly what we needed. He was consistent throughout and didn’t allow a single run. He played a phenomenal game.”