Strawberry Crest hosted the 3-1 Hillsborough Terriers on Tuesday, looking to move to 5-1 on the year.
The Chargers jumped out to a lead early in the contest and out-hit Hillsborough 10 to six, but Crest couldn’t overcome the Terriers’ one big inning as they fell 6-4.
Luke Richardson got the start for Crest and made easy work of Hillsborough in the first, sitting the first three batters down in order. The Chargers got a base hit from RayAllen Vasquez in the bottom half of the inning and he eventually moved over to second with a two-out stolen base, but that would be it as the game moved to the second inning scoreless.
Richardson put up another quick top half of the second and Crest responded with a crooked number on the board from their offense. With one out, Alexander Philpott roped a single to left and sophomore Akhil Nimmala crushed his first home run of the year on a deep shot to left field, giving the Chargers an early 2-0 lead. But Crest wasn’t done. Lance Highsmith reached safely on an infield single, stealing second and third before being driven home on an RBI triple into the right center gap from Eli Vickers.
In the top of the fourth, Richardson allowed his first baserunner of the contest on a base hit through the left side but he was promptly caught stealing. After retiring the next two batters, Richardson finished his night with four innings pitched and just one hit allowed. The Chargers threatened again in the bottom of the inning as a base hit from Philpott and a double off the left field wall from Nimmala put runners on second and third with one out. They would later load the bases with two outs on an intentional walk to Vickers, but Hillsborough would escape the jam unscathed and keep Crest’s lead at 3-0.
In the top of the fifth the Chargers made a move to the bullpen and things quickly began to snowball for Hillsborough. A base hit, a walk and a hit batter loaded the bases with no outs and a sacrifice fly to right scored the first run for the Terriers. The next batter struck out on a breaking ball in the dirt but it rolled to the backstop, allowing a second run to score and the runner to reach first base safely. An ensuing walk loaded the bases again and a base hit to the left scored one and knotted the game up at 3-3. Hillsborough’s next hitter rolled over a slow ground ball up the middle but it found its way through the infield to drive home two more, giving Hillsborough a 5-3 lead with still just one down. A second sac fly would move Hillsborough’s lead to 6-3 before Crest was able to escape the long inning.
That would be it for Hillsborough’s production Tuesday night, but it would be enough to hold on to the eventual win.
In the bottom of the sixth, Nimmala roped a single to left to cap his three-hit night, going 3-for-3 with a home run, a double, two runs batted in and a run scored. In the bottom of the seventh, outfielder Ethan Pues would put one more run up for the Chargers with a solo home run to left but it wouldn’t be enough as Crest fell 6-4 and moved to 4-2 on the season.
The Chargers will return to action on Thursday as they head to Alonso to face the 3-2 Ravens.
Around the Plant City area, Plant City remained undefeated as they moved to 4-0 with a big 11-0 win over Tampa Bay Tech last Thursday and returned to action on Wednesday night as they headed to Riverview. Plant City will face Strawberry Crest on Saturday to kick off the annual Saladino Tournament.
Durant moved to 4-0 themselves with a 6-3 win over Freedom last Thursday but faced their first loss of the season on Tuesday with a 5-4 final against the defending 6A State Champion Bloomingdale Bulls. The Cougars will return to action on Thursday night as they head to Jefferson before opening up the Saladino Tournament on Saturday against Leto.