Hayes’ Gem Leads South Broward To 5-0 Victory Over McArthur

After dropping a tough district contest to Plantation earlier in the week, the South Broward Bulldogs treated Friday’s home district game against McArthur like a do-or-die moment.

Thanks to a strong pitching performance from senior Casey Hayes, South Broward got back on track with a 5-0 victory over local rival McArthur at Len Koch Field.

“We were very disappointed with the loss on Tuesday,” South Broward coach Joe Giummule said. “We wanted to come out today and see what we are made of, come out and play hard and get back in the district race.”

The Bulldogs (6-6) improve to 3-4 in District 7A-16, and they have won four of their five games played over the past two weeks.

Hayes was in command throughout, pounding the strike zone in staying ahead of the counts and keeping the hitters working from behind. The big right-hander went the distance for the complete-game victory, striking out nine on 95 pitches while allowing only three hits and a pair of walks.

“I felt wonderful on the mound. I hadn’t pitched in a while and it felt good to be out there,” said Hayes, who improved to 3-0. “This is a big confidence-booster. It’s good for the team and team chemistry. Now we just need to win more and get into the district run.”

 

Hayes also managed an impressive and important play defensively when he barehanded a bunt attempt to record the putout throw to first base to end the fourth inning with Michael Bosco stranded in scoring position after Bosco had singled and stolen second base.

“I wanted to get it in my glove, but then I just went for it,” Hayes said. “Right when I threw it, I knew it was an out.”

With their starter cruising, the Bulldogs wasted no time in staking a lead in the top of the first inning for all the runs they would need.

Matt Cohick had a standup double on a deep shot to left field and then came in to score on an RBI single up the middle off the bat of Colin Tindall.

“That set the tone when we jumped out ahead early,” Giummule said.

South Broward added to its lead with runs in each of the next three innings. Cohick was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI, and sophomore Ken Razor was 2-for-4 with a stolen base and a run.

“We didn’t help ourselves out; we had more errors than hits,” Mustangs coach Brian Clark said. “This is a big local rivalry, and if the playoffs began today, we’d be facing them again. The nice thing is we’d both be 0-0, too, but the errors have got to stop.”

McArthur (4-10, 1-6) managed to avoid any big innings, but the offense was just unable to get anything started.

With the long layoff ahead, the Mustangs won’t play again until late next week. Coach Clark appreciates the timing of it to help the team get back to basics.

“We need to work on the fundamentals, catch-and-throw, situational hitting, things like that,” Clark said.

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