By PATRICK YASINSKAS
BROOKSVILLE — Outstanding pitching has been the story of the early part of the season for the Nature Coast baseball team. That trend only continued Tuesday night as Jackson Hoyt fired a one-hitter and struck out 11 in an 11-1 home victory against Crystal River.
But, this time, the usual plot had a long-awaited and very pleasant twist.
“We finally hit the ball,” Nature Coast coach Dan Garofano said.
The Sharks (6-2) broke out of a season-long batting slump in their best overall performance so far. Although Nature Coast returned most of a team that hit the ball well on the way to a district championship last year, the Sharks entered this game with an anemic .197 team batting average this year. But Nature Coast broke that slump by pounding out eight hits on its way to its biggest offensive production of the season. The Sharks also took advantage of eight walks from Crystal River pitchers in a game that ended in the fifth inning due to the 10-run mercy rule.
Maybe it was the warmer weather, a change in the practice routine or a few tweaks to the batting order? Or maybe it was a combination of all of the above? Whatever, Nature Coast came out swinging and never stopped. Nature Coast scored six runs in a first inning in which 11 Sharks came up to bat.
Naturally, it was Hoyt who led the slump-breaking first inning with a double and ended the game with the first walk-off hit of his stellar high school career. Hoyt, who is a University of Florida signee and a potential early pick in the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft as a pitcher, went 3-for-3 with five RBI as he also broke a season-long slump at the plate.
That formula worked perfectly as Hoyt’s first-inning double opened the flood gates after leadoff batter Cody Wright reached on an error. Wright scored on a passed ball and Joey VanCleave followed with a walk. That’s when sophomore Beckett Monroe, who had been the closest thing to an offensive bright spot early in the season, followed with a two-run single. Fellow sophomore Mario DeAngelis followed with a triple to drive in Monroe and give the Sharks a 4-0 lead. Nature Coast used a walk, a stolen base and a single by senior Joey Rozsa to add two more first-inning runs.
“We got off to a great start,” Garofano said. “We knew it was going to come at some point. We’ve been doing a lot more competitions in practice where we’ve been focusing on hitting ground balls and line drives, instead of flyballs and we made some changes in the batting order and that’s going to continue.”
The big first inning was really all the Sharks needed because Hoyt’s performance on the mound did the rest. Hoyt was, quite simply, Hoyt. The senior left-hander struck out the first six Crystal River batters. The only hit he allowed was a third-inning triple by Fabion Pabon, who then scored Crystal River’s lone run on a fielder’s choice.
With three Major League scouts sitting behind home plate and their radar guns consistently clocking his fastball at 91 to 92 miles per hour (and topping out at 93), Hoyt was in control all the way. He was ahead in the count all game and only had to throw 69 pitches to pick up the win. That’s been the norm for Nature Coast all season. Hoyt and senior right-hander Raymond Groetsch, Nature Coast’s No. 2 pitcher, now have combined for 78 strikeouts in 42 innings pitched.
The Sharks added three more runs in the third inning as junior Bryce Hewell doubled and Garrick Waggoner and Wright each drew a walk. With the bases loaded, Hoyt singled to right to drive in two runs and successfully worked his way out of a rundown to allow Wright to score.
Hoyt’s bat also made sure the game didn’t have to go the full seven innings. With a 9-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, Rosza and White each walked. Hoyt then drove them both home with a line drive to right field to end the game.
“Hopefully, we’ll continue to hit like this now,” Garofano said. “We’ve known we were capable of hitting a lot better. It just took awhile for it to happen.”
Nature Coast will play Crystal River (3-9) again in a road game Wednesday and will close out the week Thursday with a home game against winless Fivay.
