By: J. Daniel Pearson
A few observers have credited St. Cloud’s record-breaking start to a “soft schedule.” But don’t tell that to head coach David Blackmore and his scrappy team. “It’s hard to win any baseball game and it’s even harder to win 11 in a row,” Blackmore said after his club scored on a bases-loaded walk to edge arch-rival Harmony, 3-2. “You can only play the teams on your schedule and our guys have shown a lot of fortitude in finding a way to win every one of them.”
The win not only gave the Bulldogs their best start ever, but its 11th win in a row is believed to be the longest winning streak in school’s long history. It was also just St. Cloud’s second win in the last seven against the Longhorns, who had won 24 of their last 28 against Osceola County opposition.
Still, the team’s early success is a bit surprising, given the fact St. Cloud graduated 12 seniors off last year’s playoff team and then saw two other starters transfer.
“We brought in some really good assistant coaches this year,” Blackmore said. “Although we lost a lot of starters, the kids that came out this year have totally bought into our system and what we are trying to accomplish. They come out every day, work hard and never quit. That showed tonight, we fell behind 2-0 early, couldn’t do anything offensively for the first half of the game, but were able to scratch and claw our way back into it and win at the end.”
Longhorns coach Heath Williams said the game was typical for his young team that had four sophomores and a freshman in the starting lineup. “We played well enough to win tonight. Our pitching was good, we didn’t make any errors and defensively we threw two runners out at the plate. But once again we struggled to score runs. This is a really young team and has had trouble scoring runs this season. We’re hopeful that their confidence will come around as the season progresses.”
Harmony would take a 2-0 lead in the first, as Sebastian Tabares and Jadiel Perez opened the game with back-to-back walks off St. Cloud starter Rafael Martinez. Following a strikeout, Ayden Fayne loaded the bases on an infield hit and Angel Medina’s sharp single to right score Tabares and Perez.
Sophomore pitcher Riley Bonini would dominate the first four innings for Harmony. He allowed just two hits and struck out four. But the Longhorns could not add to its lead, picking up just two hits over the next three frames and running themselves out of a potential big inning in the fourth, when the St. Cloud defense turned a double play on a bunting gaff after Harmony had put the first two runners on with no outs in the inning.
The tide would turn for the Bulldogs in the bottom of the fifth, as Landon Roe and Samuel Quijada delivered back-to-back run-scoring singles with two outs. They would then score the winning run in the bottom of the sixth, without hitting the ball out of the infield. With two outs and Barrientos on first via a forceout, Gage Rutledge coaxed a walk on a 3-2 pitch. Jayden Luciano loaded the bases on an infield single and Harmony reliever Trevin Bean walked Nathan Bianco on a 3-1 pitch to force in the deciding run.
Tabares just missed tying the game in the bottom of the seventh with a near home-run that was snagged by right fielder Jayden Luciano at the fence. Perez would then pop out to second to end the game.
For the contest, Jack Ewalt picked up the win in relief. He struck out two, did not allow a hit, walked just one and also picked off a runner in 2.1 innings of work. Martinez pitched well for St. Cloud – allowing two runs and just five hits with seven strikeouts in his 4.1 innings of work. Seven of the Bulldogs’ nine starters collected a hit.
St. Cloud will go for its 12th win of the season next Wednesday when its hosts Olympia (7-5); while Harmony will have a busy week before spring break, playing at Lake Nona (3/10) before hosting Bradley Central (Tenn.) on 3/11 and Eau Gallie on 3/12.
Friday Night Scoreboard
Baseball
St. Cloud 3, Harmony 2
Bishop Moore 4, Osceola 0
Softball
St. Cloud 9, Rockledge 3
Osceola 7, Windermere 3
Girls Lacrosse
St. Cloud 7, Celebration 3
Boys Lacrosse
Celebration 11, St. Cloud 8
