While most teams took a nice, long rest last week, Key West baseball was more than busy with a spring break trip that had them playing four games in as many days.
The flurry started March 16 when the Conchs defeated the Wildcats of Hardee High 4-0. Kade Maltz went the distance on the mound, striking out six, walking one and surrendering just two hits over five innings. Nelson Ong registered two hits while Roman Garcia, Darreld Tremino and Maltz accounted for the rest of Key West’s offense. The team was perfect defensively, and the shutout win made for a great opening game for the Conchs’ big trip.
Next up was Sebring High. Donovan Thiery got the start against the Blue Streaks, striking out 11, walking four and allowing three hits and one run over five and two-thirds innings. Auggy Davila closed it out for the Conchs, securing win number two of the trip. Ong, Thiery, Jackie Niles and Xavier Perez had two hits each while Tyrone Cervantes and Garcia accounted for the other two of the team’s 10 total hits in the 7-1 win.
Game three pitted Key West against the Island Coast Gators, a highly-ranked team out of Cape Coral. Cruz Holmes started for Key West and Cervantes and Beau Bender chipped in for the team’s pitching duties. Key West played error-free, but the Gators outhit the Conchs 8-4, making the difference in the final score. Ong had two hits for Key West while Garcia and Maltz both doubled. Maltz stole two bases but at the end of seven, the Gators registered the 3-1 win and gave the Conchs just their second loss of the season.
The Conchs ended the trip on a high note, however, defeating the 7A Sharks of Spanish River High in a 5-3 come-from-behind win. The victory put Key West at 15-2 as they head down the home stretch of the regular season. Ong got the start on the mound, striking out two, walking three and giving up a pair of hits, but two unearned runs put the team in catch-up mode. Davila finished out the final four innings, striking out three and giving up four hits and one run, also unearned, in his time on the mound. Five errors, an anomaly for the typically efficient Conchs, were erased by strong bats. Perez, Maltz and Thiery had two hits each while Ong and Davila recorded one. The pitching duo also picked up a stolen base each for their stats.
Key West cruises into the final two weeks of the regular season ranked fifth in Florida’s 4A.
Marathon completed their tour of North Central Florida with a hard-fought battle against the Trenton Tigers, saving their toughest opponent for last. Trenton, ranked second in 1A’s Rural class, boasts the winningest pitcher in the division, who got the start against the 11th-ranked Fins. The Dolphins found themselves with an early lead against the Tigers after a pair of walks and hits in the top of the third resulted in two runs. The Tigers picked up one run in the same inning, then two more in the fourth.
The Fins picked up steam in the seventh inning, scoring one run, but the game was over before Marathon could tie it up. Dylan Williams pitched five-and-one-third innings, striking out five, walking one and surrendering five hits and four runs. Gabriele Cirina finished the final two batters with a pair of strikeouts in the 4-3 loss. Cirina doubled while Bradley Buigas and Jack Chapman had one base hit each. Marathon’s next five games are scheduled at home, including a March 30 matchup with Coral Shores at 7 p.m.
After defeating one and coming close with another of two top-four teams in the region, Marathon head coach Joey Gonzalez felt good about his team’s chances for playoff success.
“Although we would have liked to pick up a couple more wins on the trip, the ultimate goal was to have a game plan come postseason,” he said. “I think now we have a good idea of what to expect and we have the confidence to know we can compete with the teams at the very top of the state.”
