All three Plant City area baseball teams kept their winning ways going last week, some in different fashions than the others.
After two extremely contrasting wins in a 1-0 victory over Freedom and a 16-1 victory over Middleton the week before, Strawberry Crest charged on last week with a 9-4 victory over Newsome on Wednesday. The Chargers’ pitching largely kept Newsome in check, but it was the big bats of juniors Alex Philpott and Arjun Nimmala that led the way offensively. Philpott racked up four runs batted in while Nimmala had three, both coming away with three-run home runs in the contest. For Philpott, the home run was his first of the year and for Nimmala it was hopefully just a sign of things to come as he homered in his first game back in Crest’s lineup this year, returning from a wrist injury. A junior committed to Florida State, Nimmala is currently ranked as Prep Baseball Florida’s fifth-best player in Florida for the class of 2023 and could continue to prove himself as a massive game-changer in an already dangerous Crest lineup as postseason play draws closer.
The following night, the Chargers put on a show in a no-hit, 11-0 victory over King. Junior Zach Redner got the start for Crest, putting together five innings of work while striking out 11 and walking just one before Zach Vincent came in to close the door in the sixth, adding two more strikeouts of his own in the final inning of the contest. Philpott tacked on another run batted in on the week, junior middle infielder Eli Vickers added two and Nimmala stayed hot with two hits and five more runs batted in. In 2021, Nimmala led the Chargers with a team-high 30 runs batted in behind a .400 batting average and shows zero sign of slowing down in 2022, despite being held out of the Chargers’ lineup through their first 13 games of the season. Through his first two contests at the plate, he now has three hits, two walks, one home run and eight runs batted in.
Strawberry Crest now sits at 11-4 on the season and while they look to reschedule a game that was originally scheduled on Monday against Bloomingdale, the Chargers will take on 2-11 Tampa Bay Tech on Thursday.
Off the field, Crest has also had a number of big announcements. To start, the Hyannis Harbor Hawks announced late last month that Crest head coach Eric Beattie will take over as the interim head coach in 2022. The Harbor Hawks are a collegiate summer baseball team in the Cape Cod Baseball league, located in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The Cape Cod League is the nation’s premier collegiate summer baseball league. As for player news, senior Ethan Pues announced his commitment to Pasco Hernando State College while Nimmala will represent Team USA this summer.
Durant finished off last week heading to Newsome on Thursday, coming away with a 5-2 victory.
In the top of the first, Durant put two runners on with the help of a couple errors from Newsome but they cashed in on the opportunity as Noah Morales was able to score them both with a single. The Wolves struck back in the bottom of the frame though, coming up with a big two-out hit off of starter Torin Byrnes to drive in the runner from second, making it a 2-1 contest after the first inning.
Durant kept it rolling in the second, again with some help. After a leadoff single from junior Ty Merkle, advancing to second on a bunt from Avery Cherry, a single from sophomore Devin Suero left runners on first and third. Nick April-Gath then dropped a bunt of his own, forcing an errant throw to first and pushing the run across. With runners on first and third again Aidan Welsh pushed a slow roller to second base, allowing Newsome to get the fielder’s choice at second but reached first safely as another run came across to score, putting their lead at 4-1. Merkle added one more insurance run for the Cougars in the fifth on a deep double to straight away center field, scoring senior Brett Martin, and Byrnes would settle in, allowing just two runs over six innings of work. After a walk and a base hit to start the seventh inning, bringing the tying run to the plate for Newsome, Gavin Florio entered the game out of the bullpen and sealed the win by forcing a shallow fly ball and a double play to end the contest.
In their next contest against Riverview on Monday, five different players notched a run batted in while four different pitchers combined for a just one unearned run over six innings of work in the 10-1 victory over the Sharks. Ian Bast handled the bulk of the contest with three innings, followed by one inning from Byrnes, one inning from freshman Jack Brooks and most notably one inning from sophomore Blaine Rowland. A Florida commit and one of the top pitchers in the state for the class of 2024, Monday was Rowland’s first inning of the year for Durant after suffering a broken elbow shortly before the beginning of the season.
Durant is now 11-5 on the season and they’ll host rival Plant City on Thursday.
After a narrow 3-2 over Riverview to start the week last Tuesday, Plant City found a bit of breathing room in a 12-2 win over Brandon on Thursday. Chase Mobley went the distance in the five-inning victory, allowing seven hits and two runs while striking out five. In addition to his work on the mound, Mobley racked up two hits and three runs batted in while catcher Colin Shultz matched him with two hits and three runs batted in of his own, including his team-leading fifth home run of the season.
After their contest scheduled against Steinbrenner on Saturday was postponed for Monday, Plant City came away with another close victory in a 2-1 contest. Junior Adan Longoria got the start, allowing three hits while striking out six before fellow junior Preston Rogers threw the final three frames, striking out six of his own while allowing just one run and claiming the win as the Raiders pushed their only two runs of the game across in the fifth.
On Tuesday, Plant City faced Alonso for the second time this season, defeating them 9-8 in the Saladino Tournament on March 15. But as the Raiders’ offensive inconsistency continued, they weren’t able to notch a second win over the Ravens as they fell 3-1. Mobley got the start for Plant City and in an uncharacteristically rocky start, two singles and a bases-clearing double gave Alonso a 2-0 lead just three batters into the contest. But Mobley would settle in, strike out the next three batters he faced and cruise through the middle innings.
In the third, Plant City finally made their way onto the scoreboard. After a walk from Adan Longoria and Deven Gonzalez, they were moved over to second and third with one out by way of a sacrifice bunt from senior Jace Stines. Mobley pushed the run home with a slow ground out to third, but that was all the Raiders were able to muster.
In the bottom of the sixth, Alonso was able to lead off the inning with a walk and drew another in a long at bat after Plant City made a call to the bullpen, bringing in junior lefty Tanner Rollyson. A deep single scored one more and gave the Ravens a 3-1 lead that they would cling to for the win, moving Plant City to 12-4 on the year.
Despite stellar pitching and some explosive offensive performances throughout the entirety of the season, the Raiders have scored two or fewer runs in three of their last four contests. The arms at Plant City’s disposal are consistent, but they will look to wake the bats up again as they head to Durant on Thursday.