District baseball roundup: Deltona rides pitching, early offense to win over Seabreeze
ORMOND BEACH — Mason Draper got the answer he wanted.
The Deltona sophomore noticed a teammate warming up in the bullpen during the top of the seventh inning Tuesday at Ormond Beach Sports Complex and asked coach Anthony Campanella a question. Could he go back out for one last inning on the mound?
The response: of course.
Draper upheld his end of the bargain, retiring the second-seeded Seabreeze Sandcrabs to complete a 9-0 shutout in the District 5-5A semifinals. The Wolves (9-15) prepared their closer just in case Draper reached his pitch limit, but no need.
As the No. 3 seed, they will take on No. 1 Pine Ridge in the league championship game at 6 p.m. Thursday at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
“We were ready,” Campanella said. “We, as a team, wanted to be ready to go and playing our best baseball at the end of the year. Obviously, I think that the key was us beating Lake Mary (ranked 58th in the state) last week. That kind of steamrolled now into the playoffs. All it is, is we're playing with a lot more confidence.”
Like Draper’s.
He allowed only two hits, one walk and one hit-by-pitch. He struck out five batters and never really faced trouble.
“I got ahead with the fastball early,” Draper said. “Got ahead early and got outs.”
He also received support. Seven Wolves collected RBIs. Senior Garrett Thompson and freshman Jaden Colon each accounted for two.
Deltona loaded the bases with no outs to begin the second and third innings and built its lead from there.
It jumped ahead 1-0 in the second on a hit-by-pitch by Colon. That prompted Seabreeze (10-16) to sub in senior reliever Cade Gallman for junior starter Micah Sanders. The Wolves added two more runs in the inning when junior Yandiel Torres singled home a run and senior William Martinez grounded into a double play.
Deltona tacked on its first run of the third inning via a Sandcrabs throwing error. After that, junior Parker Bauknecht entered out of the bullpen to replace Gallman.
The first batter Bauknecht saw, Deltona junior Jayden Lochiatto, lofted a sacrifice fly to center field. The next two, Colon and senior JJ Robles, each cracked RBI singles to make it 7-0.
The Wolves scored their final two runs on a Seabreeze error in the fifth inning.
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Seniors Zane Barron and Nicholas Fisher picked up the Sandcrabs’ two hits. Fisher drew a walk, too.
They had beaten Deltona in their two matchups during the regular season. But they had not battled Draper.
“That was the plan, to have him start the first game against these guys because he had a lot of success last year against them,” Campanella said. “I just kind of played with the odds. He wanted this game. He got it, and we played well defensively behind him, and we scored runs.”
Now, the Wolves will look to gain some revenge over another rival Thursday. Pine Ridge has won all three meetings this year.
Game delayed an hour after Deltona’s bus hit on highway
On his way to the game, Campanella looked in his rearview mirror and no longer spotted the team bus. He figured it had lagged behind.
Until he got a text from one of his assistant coaches.
Deltona’s bus had been sideswiped by a car. The team spent roughly an hour stopped on the side of I-4. Luckily, no one was injured.
“As a coach, that scares you,” Campanella said. “You're responsible for all the players and the coaches, and thank God, they were OK. They didn't really know what happened. They just thought they got a flat tire or he was running off the road.”
First pitch was originally scheduled for 6 p.m. But because the Wolves did not arrive until 5:35, the game did not start until 6:55.
The wait on the side of the road didn't affect Deltona’s morale.
“We were singing,” Draper said. “We were dancing. We were hyped. We were ready.”
Spruce Creek 9, Seminole 0
Fresh off a quarterfinals bye, the Hawks (18-8) made quick work of No. 5 Seminole in the District 2-7A semifinals.
The top seed took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and zoomed the rest of the way. Junior Lamar Edwards fell just a homer short of the cycle and knocked in two runs. Senior Lucas Tutunjian also drove in two during a two-hit day.
Junior Garrett Grant delivered six shutout innings on the mound, striking out eight. Junior Anthony Barton polished it off with a scoreless seventh.
Spruce Creek will take on No. 2 Lake Mary in the finals at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Lake Mary 11, DeLand 1
The score was tied 1-1 after the first inning. Then, No. 2 Lake Mary blew it up.
The Rams hung eight runs on No. 3 DeLand (15-11) in the District 2-7A semifinals and cruised to a victory. They amassed two more runs in the fifth inning to invoke the mercy rule.
Senior Rayce Rodriguez’s RBI single led to the Bulldogs’ lone tally.
New Smyrna Beach 2, Hagerty 0
Senior Brody Kelly twirled a gem for the fourth-seeded Barracudas (12-11), going 6⅓ shutout innings to upset No. 1 Hagerty in the District 4-6A semifinals. Kelly also helped himself with an RBI single in the first inning.
Senior Luis Hernandez ushered in New Smyrna Beach’s only other run in the sixth. Sophomore Tate Haag came in and recorded the final two outs for the save.
The Barracudas will challenge No. 3 Oviedo in the finals.
Pine Ridge 5, Matanzas 1
The Panthers (15-10) scored five runs in the third inning, giving them all they needed in the District 5-5A semifinals against Matanzas (10-14).
Wiley Conner’s second-inning single supplied the first run of the game for the Pirates.
After that, junior Loren Cheatham settled in for Pine Ridge, as he went the distance. Senior Alek Rentas, junior Tommy Soltysiak and sophomore Sam Figueroa batted in one run apiece. Senior Derrick Walker had two RBIs.
The Panthers will square off with Deltona in the finals.
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Trinity Catholic 8, Father Lopez 2
No. 1 Trinity Catholic grabbed a 3-0 lead against No. 4 Father Lopez (13-14) in the District 4-3A semifinals and never trailed.
The Green Wave did keep things close by responding with two runs in the second inning. But the Celtics pulled away with two in the fourth and three in the sixth.
Master’s Academy 5, Trinity Christian 3
Second-seeded Master’s Academy snatched early control of the District 6-2A semifinals with a two-run first inning.
It boosted that advantage to 3-0 in the fourth. After the Eagles (14-9) fought back with two runs in the top of the fifth, Master’s Academy shook it off with two of its own in the bottom of the inning.
Trinity Christian scored another run in the sixth.
Sophomore Quentin Berry and junior Richaun Amaro each racked up two hits and an RBI. Junior Caden McNamara knocked in the other Eagles run.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: FHSAA baseball districts: Mason Draper pitches Deltona by Seabreeze
