Conch baseball took their talent to the west coast over spring break to see how they measured up to some of the highest-rated ball clubs in California. They opened their long-distance series with the Sonora Raiders, who hail from La Habra, just outside the Anaheim city limits. Key West struck first in inning three when Auggy Davila walked, then was advanced when the pitcher balked with Nelson Ong at the plate. Ong then laid down a sacrifice bunt to get Davila to third and Caden Pichardo grounded out, giving Davila the opportunity to cross the plate and give Key West the lead. Sonora tied it up in inning four and from there, it was a defensive battle into extra innings. Anthony Lariz pitched a phenomenal game, lasting 8 innings and striking out 11 batters in the process. But the game would last 10 innings, and Sonora managed to score the walk-off run to end it, 2-1. The Conchs had 5 hits in the loss, with 1 each from Steel Mientkiewicz, Caden Pichardo, Sam Holland, Jacob Burnham and Roman Garcia.
The following day, Key West was paired with the Wolverines of Aliso Niguel High School. The Conchs’ bats were in action, with Garcia leading the way with a pair of doubles. Mientkiewicz and Lariz had two hits each and Holland, Pichardo and Noah Burnham had one each. Key West outhit the Wolverines, but 6 walks, 4 hit batters and 3 errors outweighed the Conchs’ 7 hits en route to an 11-6 loss.
The final game of the trip was against the Tritons of San Clemente. The game was scoreless through 4-1/3 innings until the Tritons broke the game wide open, scoring 5 runs off of 4 hits, a walk and an error to take the lead. Key West answered with 2 runs in the sixth but the Tritons scored 4 more in the final inning to put the game out of reach. Key West registered 6 hits, with 1 each from Holland, who doubled, plus Noah Burnham, Nelson Ong, Davila, Mientkiewicz and Garcia. Jacob Burnham pitched 6 innings, striking out 6 Tritons, and Christian Koppal closed the final inning, striking out 2 in the 11-6 loss. Key West will get some rest before they host the Bandits of ABF Academy Homestead on Friday, March 29.
Coral Shores stayed closer to home over break, traveling as far as Miami to face the 7A Buccaneers of South Dade High School on March 18. The 3A ’Canes struggled offensively, losing 11-0 in 4-1/3 innings. Keller Blackburn had the only hit for Coral Shores, a single in the fifth inning. The Hurricanes had better luck at home on March 21 against the independent Rays of Mater Academy Bay. Grayden Ross started on the mound for the ’Canes, pitching an entire game and striking out a dozen batters, walking 1 and allowing 3 hits. Donovan Thiery was 3-for-4 at the plate with a triple and 2 singles. Ezekiel Myers was also 3-for-4 with a double and a pair of singles. Maykol Bonito-Rodriguez and Mason Clark accounted for the rest of the Hurricane hits in the 6-0 win.
Marathon took a break last week, returning to action in perhaps its most challenging game of the season. Coral Shores made the short trip to the Middle Keys to play Marathon on March 25 in what would prove to be a pitchers’ duel until the final innings. In a game that went scoreless through the first five frames, just a single run at the top of the sixth inning would eventually give Coral Shores a 1-0 victory. For full game coverage, see the April 4 edition of the Sports Wrap.
