Lakeland Christian grabs 4th straight county title as key players heating up
AUBURNDALE — With the baseball district tournament just over two weeks away, defending state champion Lakeland Christian answered a key question about its depth for head coach Matt Diaz, and key players are heating up at the right time.
The Vikings showed off their depth in their 10-8 victory over McKeel in the McCutchen Division championship game of the Polk County Baseball Tournament.
The victory was Lakeland Christian’s 11th consecutive win and gave the Vikings their fourth consecutive county title in the highest of the three divisions.
Midseason rankings: Polk County high school baseball top 10 rankings: How teams stack up at midway point
“You have to be deep to win this tournament, and that was our question, how deep are we?,” Diaz said. “ We know, we know we can hit on occasion. We know we get with (Carson) Martin starting and Rutledge relieving, but can Rutledge give us length when we need it. And he didn't have his good stuff tonight and he battled through and got us four (innings). We have Nathan Diaz in the back of the bullpen throwing strikes. So other teams are going to have to beat us at the end of the game and that’s huge. We're not giving anything away.”
The depth in the line up also was on display against McKeel. Although Gavin Byrd, who went into the game leading LCS with a .444 batting average and 22 RBIs, was just 1 for 5 with an RBI, the Vikings found plenty of offense throughout the lineup, starting with catcher Mitch Rodriguez.
A junior, Rodriguez continued his hot hitting by going 2 for 3 with a double and two RBIs. He’s batting .500 (11 for 22) over the past seven game stop raise his average from .200 to .308. He’s’s not the only one either.
Dan Colon, whose two-run triple in in the fifth put LCS up 6-4, is batting (9 for 20) .450 over the seven games to raise his average 37 points to .389.
And Zach Lester, who was 3 for 3 with three runs scored and an RBI, is batting .550 (11 for 20) over his last six games to raise his average from .156 to .381 during that stretch.
“I know Rodriguez and Lester didn’t get off to the starts they wanted, but there nobody up right now that I want in a clutch situation,” Diaz said. “They are clutch and are giving me really good at bats. Bentley has caught fire during the week.”
They are three of LCS’s top returners whom the Vikings will need to be hitting well in their bid for a third state title in five years.
Bentley was 0 for 2 against McKeel, although he scored two runs, but was 5 for 9 in the first two games of the tournament against Lakeland and Santa Fe Catholic. He is batting .391 over his last seven games to raise is average from .250 to .305.
Colon is one of the new starters this year who has made an impact.
“Dan Colon is not a first baseman, but he playing first on this team because that’s where he fits,” Diaz said. “He has taken to it. He is doing a great job, and he is dangerous at the plate.”
The three tams Lakeland Christian defeated this week have a combined record of 44-11, including McKeel (17-2) which saw its 13-game winning streak end.
“In the county tournament, none of us coaches ever scheduled three team like we had to play this week in a single week,” Diaz said. “They’r a very deep team. I told (McKeel coach Ron) Nipper at the end it will be really run. I think they ha a chance to win in their division.”
Although he took the loss in his first pitching appearance of the season, KJ Scobey had a big week. He was 2 for 3 with two walks against LCS and was 6 for 8 with six RBIs for the week. He’s batting average is up to .377.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Defending state champion Lakeland Christian looking playoff ready
