Somerset Academy Holds On Against 5A-14 Rival Pine Crest

The Somerset Academy Panthers hosted the Pine Crest Panthers Wednesday night in a battle between two teams atop the 5A-14 standings. Behind a stellar pitching performance from Brandon Valentin, Somerset Academy held on to win 1-0, their third straight victory.

Valentin took to the mound for Somerset Academy (7-2, 3-1), who had won five of their last six games coming into today’s game. Valentin threw 101 pitches and scattered seven hits over seven innings of work, walking three and striking out six. Valentin threw more than half his pitches for strikes and consistently put batters behind in the count.

Pine Crest (4-4, 3-3) sent junior right-hander Jordan Schulefand to the mound in an attempt to avoid back to back losses to Somerset. Schulefend was brilliant from start to finish. He went six innings, throwing 106 pitches and striking out 10 batters. He started the game by striking out the side and built upon that, showing great command all night long. Nearly 70% of his pitches were for strikes, as he started ahead in most counts.

The only run of the game came in the bottom of the third inning. Franco Perdomo led the inning off with a single into center-field, followed by two consecutive outs. Senior Juan Teixeira came to the plate with two outs and Perdomo on second and on a 1-1 pitch sent a ball sailing into left. When it was all said and done, Teixeira was on third with a triple and Perdomo had crossed the plate for the go-ahead run.

The one run was all Valentin needed to lock up the victory against Pine Crest. This concluded a home and home series between the two teams. The previous match-up was also won by Somerset.

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