By Pat Clines

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF baseball team (11-17) put their offense onslaught on the winning side of things as they defeated the IMG Academy postgraduate team at Wynn Field by a score of 18-5.

Head coach Tim Hill II sent freshman Trey Clucas to the mound for the start. After a scoreless first, the Ascenders would score first at the top of the second off of an RBI double for a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Manatees would respond back with a big scoring onslaught. Sophomore Lucas Ismaili would begin the inning with a leadoff single and reached second on a failed pickoff attempt before he scored on two balks to tie the game. Classmate Brayden Woodburn drew a walk before stealing second and advancing to third on a throwing error before sophomore Ben Gilbert got hit by a pitch. Freshman Jalen Hairston would then give the Manatees the lead as he sent a hard chopper to right for a single and brought in Woodburn. After freshman LT Cockrill got hit by a pitch to load the bases, sophomore Richie Morales would send a single to right-center to bring in Gilbert and Hairston. Classmate Erick Almonte would then hit a single to load the bases again before Cockrill and Morales scored on two wild pitches. The Manatees batted around as Ismaili sent a single to center to bring in Almonte to make it 7-1 SCF.

In the bottom of the third, the Manatees would add on to their lead. After they loads thanks to a single by Gilbert and walks by Woodburn and Cockrill, Almonte would then draw a walk to bring in Woodburn and reload the bases before sophomore Kevin Karstetter sent a single to left to bring in Gilbert and Cockrill for a 10-1 SCF lead.

Hill would pull Clucas before the top of the fourth and send freshman Liam Best to the mound. The Ascenders would end up putting three runs on the board after two sacrifice flies and an RBI single to cut the Manatees lead to 10-4. Best would get out of the inning after a groundout. In the bottom half of the inning, the Manatees would add a couple more runs to the board as Cockrill would send a double to center to bring in Lopez and Woodburn to make it 12-4 SCF.

At the top of the fifth, freshman Michael Forret would come in for Best. Despite giving up a double, Forret would strikeout two batters with ease. In the bottom half of the inning, the Manatees would push their lead to double digits after RBI doubles by Ismaili and Woodburn to make it 14-4 SCF.

Hill would continue to make changes on the mound. He would first send freshman Brendan Albrittain to the mound at the top of the sixth where he would get out the inning, despite putting runners in scoring position. At the top of the seventh, freshman Jeremy Weaver would come in and, like Forret, would breeze through the inning with two strikeouts.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Manatees did not stop their offensive outing. After Morales and sophomore Austin Dearing drew back-to-back walks, Ismaili would showcase the power side of him as the former Pittsburgh Panther would send a three-run blast to left-center for his fifth of the season. After Lopez drew a walk and Woodburn reached base on a fielding error before Gilbert reached first on a fielder's choice, freshman Evan Mastromauro would send a single to center to bring in Lopez to make it 18-4 SCF.

At the top of the ninth, Hill would make another change to the mound and send Morales to pitch. The Ascenders would then score one final run off of an RBI single before Morales struck out the final batter to seal the deal for the Manatees.

Clucas would get a no-decision after giving up one run on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts in three innings. Forrett would get his third win of the season after throwing a scoreless inning giving up one hit with two strikeouts.

Ismaili would be the leader for the Manatees on the offensive end as he finished 4-for-5 with a home run, four RBI and three runs scored. He was in fact a triple shy of the cycle. Morales (1-for-5), Karstetter (1-for-5) and Cockrill (1-for-1) each had two RBI. Morales added a walk and two runs while throwing one inning of relief giving up one run on two hits with two strikeouts. Karstetter added one run and one walk, while Cockrill added two runs and two walks.

Almonte (1-for-3, one RBI, one run and one walk), Woodburn (1-for-2, one RBI, three runs, three walks and one stolen base), Gilbert (1-for-4, two runs and one walk; one inning of relief with two strikeouts), Hairston (1-for-4, one RBI and one run), Dearing (1-for-1, one triple, one run and one walk) and Mastromauro (1-for-1, one RBI) had the remaining six hits for the Manatees, while Lopez (two walks and two runs), Best (one inning of relief), Albrittain (one inning of relief with one strikeout) and Weaver (one scoreless inning of relief with two strikeouts) also contributed in the game.

Notes:

With his three walks, Woodburn now has 33 this season and 88 in his career. He needs 21 to surpass Jody Reed (59, 1981-82) for the single season record and Joey Collis (109; 1994-95) for the most in a career.

The win for Hill II was his 353rd in his career.

Other Suncoast Scores:

Hillsborough (6-17) fell to Florida Southwestern (15-9) 5-4. The Hawks will face St. John's River State (18-8, 4-2 Sun Lakes) Wednesday afternoon, March 8 at 3 pm.

Polk State (14-11) defeated TNXL Academy 13-2. The Eagles will take on Indian River State (14-6) Tuesday afternoon, March 7 at 2 pm.

St. Pete (5-14) won their doubleheader over the Minnesota Post Grad team by scores of 17-1 and 13-5. The Titans will take on Inspiration Academy Tuesday afternoon, March 7 at 3 pm.

Suncoast Conference Standings:

1. Polk State (14-11)

2. SCF (11-17)

3. St. Pete (5-14)

4. Hillsborough (6-17)

Up Next:

The Manatees will look to focus on Suncoast Conference play with a strong start as they face St. Pete College to start it up.