With their best player sidelined all week, the Nature Coast Sharks still came tantalizingly close to a berth in the championship game of the Florida Farm Bureau Insurance High School Baseball Classic.
Nature Coast had the winning run at the plate in the final inning of Wednesday night’s semifinal game but came up one swing of the bat short. Land O’ Lakes held on to defeat Nature Coast 12-10 at Sharks Field. Land O’ Lakes 8-7 advances to play Mitchell in the title game Friday night at 7 at Hernando High’s Emerson Field. Mitchell (11-4) defeated Cypress Creek, 3-2, in Wednesday night’s other semifinal game.
With University of Florida signee and potential early pick in this summer’s Major League Baseball Draft Jackson Hoyt out with the flu all week, the Sharks (11-4) still managed to make a strong run in the tournament. Trailing 12-5 entering the final inning, Nature Coast rallied for five runs. The Sharks had the potential tying run on first base and the potential winning run up at bat. But Land O’ Lakes reliever Ryan Mabry recorded a strikeout to end the game.
“I’m proud of how we hung in there and fought back,” Nature Coast coach Dan Garofano said. “Our whole dugout was into the game and never gave up. We almost pulled it off.”
The game appeared to be out of reach entering the final inning, but Nature Coast made it close with a five-run rally. Joey VanCleave and Brady McMurdo each drew walks to lead off the inning. Sophomore designated hitting Beckett Monroe drove in VanCleave with a single to cut the lead to 12-6. Senior first baseman Joey Rozsa was hit by a pitch to load the bases and junior third baseman Garrick Waggoner drove in another run with a single.
With two outs, sophomore Mario DeAngelis hit a ground ball to the Land O’Lakes shortstop, who made an errant throw to first base that allowed two more runs to score to cut the lead to 12-9. Aidan O’Nolan then followed with an infield single to cut the lead to two runs and left the Sharks with runners on first and second. But Mabry struck out VanCleave to end the game.
Without Hoyt, Nature Coast’s pitching staff was worn thin after strong performances by sophomore Jake Loefller in a 4-3 win against River Ridge in Monday’s opening round and by senior Raymond Groetsch in a 12-0 victory against Citrus in Tuesday’s second-round game.
McMurdo was best known as a standout catcher before this season, but he emerged as Nature Coast’s closer early this season. With Hoyt unavailable, Garofano turned to McMurdo to start the game against Land O’ Lakes. Although Nature Coast jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, McMurdo wasn’t able to hold it for long. Land O’ Lakes tied the game in the second inning and DeAngelis came on in relief of McMurdo.
Land O’Lakes added three runs in the fourth inning, but VanCleave cut the lead to 6-4 when he singled to drive in O’Nolan, who had doubled. Land O’ Lakes exploded for six runs in the sixth inning and the Gators were helped greatly by two Nature Coast errors.
“We didn’t play good defense tonight,” Garofano said. “We had to use some different pitchers and our defense really let us down.”
The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for Nature Coast. The Sharks will return to action Tuesday night with a game at Citrus. They’ll host South Sumter next Thursday and Citrus on Friday. Garofano said it isn’t yet clear when Hoyt will return to the lineup.
“Jackson is really day to day at this point,” Garofano said. “He’ll be ready whenever he’s ready and we’re not going to rush him.”
