The Key West Conchs baseball team swept the Coral Shores Hurricanes on March 31 and April 1. The bats were alive and well for the Conchs as they tallied 17 hits over both games.
The Conchs got off to a quick-hitting start on Thursday night at Coral Shores in Tavernier. Their first run came in the top of the first inning on a double from Jack Haggard, which scored Noah Burnham. Coral Shores matched the score in the bottom of the first, tying the game 1-1 on a double from J. Gonzales, scoring S. Mientkiewicz. The game was tied going into the second and would stay that way until the top of the fifth when Anden Rady hit a line drive, two-rbi single, to right field, scoring Kai Smith and Preston Herce, putting the Conchs back on top.
The Hurricanes went on to score one run in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Hurricanes’ defense began to struggle in the top of the sixth. Two of the first three runs scored by the Conchs were on errors by the Hurricanes. The final Conch run of the sixth came from Haggard with his second hit of the game, scoring Herce. In the bottom of the sixth, Coral Shores scored two runs, still falling short of the Conchs’ 6-5 lead going into the seventh, when the Conchs kept the hits coming, scoring two more runs. Smith singled, scoring Kuhn and Jose Perdigon on a fielder’s choice. In addition to the timely hitting, the Conchs showed their speed on the basepaths Thursday night, stealing four bags.
Felix Ong started on the mound for the Conchs, pitching 5.1 innings. He scattered 4 hits and 3 runs with 8 strikeouts. In a relief for the Conchs was Marlin Tokovich, finishing the game and giving up no hits and 2 unearned runs while striking out 3.
On Friday night, Key West played Coral Shores at home. Coming off a win from the night before, they were eager to keep the streak going. A strong pitching performance from Jacob Burnham led the Conchs to shut out the Hurricanes 9-0. Burnham faced 23 batters, striking out five, and allowed only two hits in seven innings of work. His complete-game shutout was aided by a strong Conch defense behind him. The Conchs did not commit any errors and catcher Noah Burnham caught one runner stealing in the top of the third.
During the second game, the Conchs got off to a slow offensive start, scoring the first of their nine runs in the third inning on a single to right field from N. Burnham, which scored Jason Yarbrough. Noah Burnham advanced to second on a passed ball, putting him in scoring position with Herce up to bat. Herce tripled on a line drive to deep right field, scoring Burnham to make the game 2-0 in the bottom of the third. Two more runs came in the bottom of the fifth for the Conchs on yet another hit from Herce, scoring Sam Holland and Smith. Key West put the game out of reach in the bottom of the sixth inning by scoring five runs. The first run of the inning came on a double from Perdigon, scoring Wyatt Kuhn. Perdigon was later walked home and Noah Burnham grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Yarbrough. As the Hurricanes’ defense got sloppy, Key West capitalized by scoring two more runs on a costly error on a ground ball from Herce, making the game 9-0 after the sixth inning.
Conch head coach Ralph Henriquez noted Coral Shores played very tough on Thursday night, but Key West pitchers did well throughout the series. The Conchs now have 11 wins on the season.
By Caroline Smith
Photos by JOY SMITH/Keys Weekly. See the full photo gallery at purelyjoyousphotography.com.
Caroline Smith is a junior at Key West High School, a varsity softball and a contributing sports reporter for the Key West Weekly.
