Monster Second Inning Leads St. Thomas Past Fort Lauderdale

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Facing a big challenge in the chase for the top seed in 8A-14, St. Thomas Aquinas delivered a massive offensive performance to lead the way to a 10-0 victory over Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday night. The host Raiders got production from every slot in the lineup, as they pounded out 12 hits and were effective at stringing hits together to drive runners in.

“They threw some pretty good arms against us, but I think our guys just had a pretty good approach,” Raiders manager Troy Cameron said. “We had a good game plan and for the most part we were able to execute. We don’t have a young team, but we have an inexperienced team. Now we are starting to get some games under our belt and the guys are getting a little more comfortable, and our practices have been going pretty well. So the confidence is building and that is what we want to get at this point in the season.”

The Raiders take over the top spot in the district with a 3-0 record, with Fort Lauderdale right on their heels at 3-1. After dropping the first two games in the Flanagan Falcons Challenge to start the year, St. Thomas has won seven in a row since.

St. Thomas broke things wide open with a six-run second inning in which it batted around the order and sent 11 hitters to the plate. Daniel Lowry got things started with a solo home run to center field, the next five batters all singled and the first eight batters all reached base. Caleb Roberts laced a shot just fair down the first base line to score Drew Davis and Andrew Garcia and Earl Semper followed with an RBI single up the middle that plated Cameron Krzeminski. Ryan Stalder and Lowry both added RBIs later in the frame as the Raiders built an 8-0 advantage after two innings of play.

“It was a big district game for us and Fort Lauderdale is a solid team, so we wanted to come out and make a statement,” Lowry said. “The home run sparked the rally and after that we had six hits in a row and I think that is the first time as a team we have done that since Troy was here. It was good seeing people barreling up balls and getting their confidence up and just having a good game all around. We didn’t really know what we were coming in to, so we were were just coming out playing St. Thomas baseball and coming out with that fire.”

Facing each other for the first time since 2003, both clubs showed their grit and determination. Save for an infield error late in the action, both sides played clean and aggressive defense. Pitchers pounded the strike zone and hitters delivered quality at bats all throughout the contest. The ability to capitalize in big moments proved to be the difference.

“We just needed to put some hits together tonight,” Flying L’s manager Terry Portice said. “We had a bunch of baserunners early and against a good team you can’t leave those guys hanging. You have to drive them in. That has been our problem all season is driving runs in; even for as many runs as we’ve scored we have a left a ton of guys on base this year. If you’re going to win championships you have to drive those runs in. But I liked our fight and our passion for the game tonight.”

The Flying L’s (6-4) had quality at bats all night and the players battled to the very end. The club got runners on base in each of the first three frames but were unable to push any of them across. Jonathan Grant led off the contest by lining a double to the right-center field gap but was stranded after Raiders starter Blake Hely shut down the next three batters in order.

Sean O’Connell, Jay Adams and Alexander Rodriguez all walked to fill the bases in the second, but Raiders second baseman Andrew Garcia did a nice job chasing down a grounder deep to the right side for a 4-3 putout that ended that threat.

Fort Lauderdale threatened again in the third after Trevor Jones singled and Daniel Silva was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base. Hely buckled down to get the next three batters, and relievers Michael Muley and John Lochrie set down the final nine hitters in order to close things out.

Krzeminski helped get things started in the first to score the only run the Raiders would ultimately need. The senior was hit by a pitch, stole second and advanced to third when Roberts bunted for an infield single. Anthony Mulrine then sent a high chopper that was just out of the grasp of leaping third baseman Brandon Alfano to send Krzeminski in, and Roberts followed later on a wild pitch.

Jake Buxbaum reached on an error and scored on an RBI single from Christopher Ruckdeschel in the fifth, and Lowry ended the night by plating Jarret Kappelman on an RBI single to right in the sixth.

“It’s really encouraging, especially that we are putting up ten runs a game,” Krzeminski said. “Everyone is batting around and everyone is getting at bats and everyone is contributing. So it feels really good as a team.”

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