Viera High on to state baseball with Region 2-6A championship
For the second time in four nights, the Viera High baseball team had to sweat it out at USSSA Space Coast Stadium, but Tuesday's reward was a trip to the FHSAA Class 6A state tournament.
The Hawks held off visiting Land O'Lakes, 6-5, to earn their spot in Ft. Myers next week as Region 2-6A champions.
There were heroics. Lucas Glendinning was on the mound in relief with the outcome perhaps on the line, a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth but the bases loaded with Gators and the visitors' No. 1 hitter, J.P. Pennella, at the plate.
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"That was the game right there," head coach Brock Doty said. "We were saying as coaches that if we could get out of that inning and not give up a run, we were going to win the ball game. It worked out."
Glendenning struck him out.
"I've played against him in travel before, so me and Alex (Sosa), the catcher, we kinda knew how to attack that guy," the senior pitcher said. "We wanted to pound him away with changeups and then throw him a fastball in. Luckily, he swung at that fastball."
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That wasn't the end of things. Viera took a 6-2 lead into the final inning, but it was familiar territory to Land O'Lakes, which had eliminated top-seeded George Jenkins on Saturday with five runs in the last inning.
It was familiar to the Hawks, too. They'd led Lake Minneola, 7-3, going into the seventh of Saturday's regional semifinal. Viera held on, 7-6.
This time, William Colon drove in one for the Gators to cut it to 6-3, and Doty made a change again. He brought Luke Campbell to the mound. C.J. Chalk drove in another run, and a fifth run followed on a bases-loaded walk.
But then Campbell closed it out with a double play on a ball hit back to him. He threw home to Sosa for the second out, and Sosa threw to first to end the game.
"That was the craziest inning. I don't know how we get out of that," Doty said. "Luke Campbell. He's our bulldog.
It was the ninth win in a row for Viera, now 23-6. The Gators ended their season at 23-7, their winning streak ended at 10.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Viera 6, Land O'Lakes 5 in 2023 Region 2-6A baseball final
