By PATRICK YASINSKAS
BROOKSVILLE — If his debut as a head coach is any indication of things to come, the Springstead High baseball team just might be in for a nice run under David Cazanas.
In their first game with Cazanas as their head coach, the Eagles defeated neighborhood rival Nature Coast 3-2 in the season opener for both teams Tuesday night.
“It’s a big win for us against a rival and a great way to start the season,” Cazanas said. “Nature Coast is a very good team and they’re very well coached. The kids from both teams all know each other and this game meant a lot. to all of them.”
The Springstead victory spoiled the first appearance of the season for Nature Coast senior pitcher Jackson Hoyt, who already has signed with the University of Florida and could be a potential early pick in this summer’s Major League Baseball draft.
The Eagles were only too happy to accept what the host Sharks were giving them and sophomore shortstop Nathaniel Sabino and senior pitcher Dalton Williams played key roles.
“(Sabino) started it and he finished it for us,” Cazanas said. “He’s a stud. He’s going to be special.”
Sabino led off the game with a single up the middle off Hoyt and scored Springstead’s first run on a throwing error by Nature Coast on a ground ball hit by senior catcher Andrew Ward, who later scored on another Nature Coast error. That gave Springstead a 2-0 first-inning lead. Sabino also ended the game by snaring a well-hit line drive off the bat of Mario DeAngelis and doubling up the runner at first base for the game’s final out.
But Sabino’s biggest contribution came in the top of the seventh inning. His single to center field drove in Taryn Hendrickson with the game-winning run. That hit came off DeAngelis, who came on in relief after Hoyt left the game after six-and-a-third innings with runners on first and third.
With at least four Major League scouts watching him, Hoyt did nothing to hurt his stock. He allowed four hits, walked two and struck out nine. According to a game-long eye kept on the radar gun of one of the scouts, Hoyt’s fastball was consistently clocked at 90 to 91 miles per hour and maxed out at 93 a couple of times. The senior left-hander threw an abundance of off-speed pitches that averaged close to 80 miles per hour.
“They didn’t touch my off-speed pitches,” Hoyt said. “I think everything they hit came on fastballs.”
There might have been a good reason for that.
“Jackson’s a great pitcher,” Sabino said. “He’s one of the best pitchers in Florida. Maybe one of the best in the country. But (Cazanas) got us ready for it. At (Monday’s) practice, he had the pitching machine cranked up to the mid-90s and had it angled to come from the left side.”
Hoyt wasn’t the only pitcher to turn in a strong performance on the mound. His former Little League teammate and longtime friend Williams went the distance to earn the win for Springstead. Williams allowed five hits while walking two and striking out six. Nature Coasts’ only runs came in the second inning as Garrick Waggoner’s single up the middle drove in Beckett Monroe, who had doubled to deep left field and a balk by Williams forced in the second run.
“Dalton wanted this one,” Cazanas said. “I mean he really wanted it. I was about to take him out after five innings because I didn’t want him throwing to much in his first time out. But he talked me into keeping him in and I’m glad he did. He was fired up for this one.”
Maybe the fire that Williams and his teammates showed stems from Springstead’s new coach.
“He’s brought a lot of energy to us,” Williams said. “He makes the game fun.”
The Sharks and Eagles will meet again Friday night at 7 at Springstead.
