Baseball Report: Local MLB starting pitchers; Hagerty heads to North Carolina
Major League Baseball pitching rotations included a handful of starters from Orange, Seminole, Lake and southwest Volusia counties during the opening week of the 2024 season.
Five players from the Orlando area were the go-to options for their respective teams over a span of four days.
Eustis graduate and former Florida Gators standout Brady Singer turned in the best outing among the bunch on Sunday.
Singer, in his fifth season with the Kansas City Royals, struck out 10 while giving up 3 hits and 1 walk through seven innings during an 11-0 win vs. the Minnesota Twins.
Wekiva’s Logan Gilbert was nearly as impressive despite not recording the win for the Seattle Mariners, who rallied past the visiting Boston Red Sox 4-3 in 10 innings on Saturday.
Gilbert, a four-year starter out of Stetson, allowed 4 hits, 1 walk and 1 run while finishing with 8 strikeouts in seven innings.
West Orange alum Austin Gomber also pitched Saturday for the Colorado Rockies but did not qualify for the win while going 4 2/3 innings. Gomber gave up 4 runs on two homers as the Rockies won 9-4 at the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Singer, Gilbert and Gomber are each scheduled to make their second starts on Friday.
Orange City University alum Logan Allen did just enough last Friday while helping the Cleveland Guardians get a 6-4 road win against the Oakland A’s. Despite yielding a pair of home runs on 6 hits, Allen struck out 3 in five innings to claim the victory.
Allen improved to 2-0 on Wednesday in Seattle. He finished with 6 Ks and 4 hits allowed in 6 2/3 innings during an 8-0 win.
Zach Eflin, drafted out of Hagerty High School in 2012, got the Opening Day nod for the Tampa Bay Rays last Thursday. He allowed 6 earned runs during an 8-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays but bounced back five days later.
Eflin earned the win Tuesday against the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers by tallying 5 strikeouts with 5 hits and 1 earned run allowed in a 5-2 victory.
New York Yankees reliever Luke Weaver, out of DeLand and Florida State, became the first pitcher to reach two wins this season in just 3 2/3 innings of work in Friday and Monday outings.
Varsity highlights
Hagerty heads to Cary, N.C., next week to compete at the annual USA Baseball National High School Invitational. The Huskies (11-3) open the 16-team single-elimination tournament Wednesday at 10 a.m. against St. John’s College (8-2) out of Washington D.C. All games will stream live online at USABaseball.TV.
Deltona (6-11) split four games last week and had seven players named to the Florida League High School Invitational “Showcase” all-tournament team. Jaden Colon, Matt Chase and Garnier Abreu were recognized as top two players at the event. Pitchers Miguel Cortes and Mason Draper and batters Garrett Thompson and JJ Robles also received recognition.
The Master’s Academy (9-7) turned in an abbreviated five-inning no-hitter last Thursday during a 10-0 win against Cornerstone Charter (6-9). Jackson Stecher, an eighth grader who plays quarterback on the football team, recorded 10 strikeouts in four innings pitched.
Umatilla (11-3) has gone 3-3 during its past six games since opening the season with eight consecutive wins. Seven players are batting better than .300 for the Bulldogs, who were scheduled to play Thursday at Lake Highland Prep (9-5) and Friday at home vs. Eustis (9-7).
St. Cloud (9-5) avenged an early-season 4-1 loss vs. rival Osceola (6-8) last week while pulling out a 4-3 win at home. Freshman Sammy Echeverry had a home run and 3 RBI in the first inning for the Bulldogs and Sean Gallagher finished with 11 strikeouts in six innings pitched.
Several other area pitchers have posted impressive stat lines in recent weeks, including junior Michael Senay at East River (9-5) and senior Cody Bergeron at Celebration (6-5).
Senay, who owns a 0.56 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 25 innings, finished with 10 Ks in five innings during a 9-2 win last week vs. Flagler Palm Coast (5-10).
Bergeron went the distance for the Storm on March 25 while striking out 10 batters in a 5-2 win vs. Highland Park (8-3) of Illinois. Bergeron has a 0.69 ERA with 39 strikeouts and 10 hits allowed through 20 1/3 innings this season.
Timber Creek senior Connor Mulready (vs. Olympia), Lake Brantley junior Elijah Guzman (at Seminole) and Boone senior Kaiden Krak (at Osceola) each recorded 9 strikeouts in wins late last week.
This article originally appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email J.C. Carnahan at jcarnahan@orlandosentinel.com.
