By Pat Clines

Bradenton, Fla. - Despite a 30-minute rain delay in the seventh, the SCF baseball team (12-17, 1-0 Suncoast) were able to pull away with the first win in Suncoast Conference play as they defeated St. Pete College (6-15, 0-1 Suncoast) 7-5. With the win, the Manatees are now 43-11 against the Titans.

"Despite the rain delay that occurred, I thought the guys did a good job," said head coach Tim Hill II. "I thought Michael Forret did a good job on the mound and we were in control of the game. When we come up to bat, we walked the first two guys to do some damage and really stretch the lead out before we walk guys ourselves and let them (St. Pete) creep up on us, which was unusual, but Jeremy (Weaver) and Ben (Gilbert) made some good pitches for us as well to limit the damage to one run. I'm proud of the guys for competing"

"It was an emotional game from the start" said sophomore Brayden Woodburn. "We knew that to come out here with a job to do in order for us to protect our home field for the first game and set the tone for the series up ahead while showing that we're not just a team and we're here to win. It felt getting the win because you never want to lose a conference game, you want to take it one game at a time."

"I thought it was a good effort overall," said freshman Erick Almonte. "We just set the tone from the beginning and that's what we needed to do. It really feels good to get our first conference win, especially when it's at home."

Hill would send freshman Michael Forret, while St. Pete head coach Oscar Espada went with sophomore Tanner Boccabello to counter.

At the top of the first, Forret was actually two pitches over getting an immaculate inning as he struck out the side for the first inning. In the bottom half of the inning, the Manatees would respond first on the scoreboard. After they loaded the bases, sophomore Mario Lopez, Jr. would bloop a single to center to bring in Almonte, while sophomore Kevin Karstetter scored on an error to make it 2-0 SCF.

Two innings later, the Titans would get their first run on the board at the top of the fourth as freshman Andrey Martinez hit an RBI double. At the top of the fifth, the Titans would take their first lead after a passed ball and an RBI single by freshman Diego Aponte to make it 3-2 SPC.

The lead was short lived in the bottom half of the fifth as the Manatees responded back as Almonte would send a line drive to right for his first collegiate home run to tie the game at 3-3. 

"It felt great hitting my first collegiate home run," said Almonte. "I was just looking at the pitch to get on base and it went out, so it felt great. I hope to get a few more soon."

"Erick is a good player," said Hill on Almonte. "I wasn't surprised because while we're not counting on him to hit it out of the ballpark, he is a very good hitter."

After sophomore Lucas Ismaili hit and Lopez, Jr reached on a fielding error, Woodburn would smack a triple to right-center to bring in Ismaili and Lopez, Jr before sophomore Ben Gilbert popped a single to left to bring in Woodburn for a 6-3 SCF lead. One inning later, Lopez, Jr would hit into a fielder's choice to bring in Almonte for a 7-3 lead.

After the top of the seventh, the game would go into a 30 minute rain delay before resuming to the bottom half of the inning.

At the top of the eighth, Hill would send Gilbert to pitch while Hairston went to right field and sophomore went from right to center. After loading the bases, sophomore Marcus Sanders would draw a walk to bring in a run to make it 7-4 SCF. Gilbert would still get out of the inning.

At the top of the ninth, Gilbert would strikeout one more batter before throwing a walk. This signaled the end for Gilbert as Hill would send freshman Jeremy Weaver for a save opportunity. With one final breath, the Winter Springs native would strikeout freshman Colton Pizzio to end the game.

Forret would get his fourth win of the season after giving up three runs (one earned) on five hits wtih one walk and 10 strikeouts in seven innings. He is now 4-2 on the year.

Weaver would get his second save after giving up one hit with one strikeout in two-thirds of an inning. 

Gilbert would give up two runs on one hit with four walks and two strikeouts in one and a third of relief and went 1-for-4 with one RBI and one walk.

Boccabello would fall to 0-2 after giving up seven runs (four earned) on 10 hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Sophomore Chad Baker threw one and two-thirds innings, giving up one hit with three walks and two strikeouts, while freshman Esaid Pena threw one scoreless inning of relief with one walk and two strikeouts.

Four Manatees had a multi-hit game. It was Woodburn that lead the way as he went 2-for-4 with two RBI, one run and one walk.

"I felt good at the plate," said Woodburn on his game. "We had to switch some things around and it's been working the past couple of games, so it was good to see some good results."

Almonte followed also going 2-for-4 with a home run, one RBI, three runs and one walk, while Karstetter was 2-for-4 with one run and one stolen base. Ismaili rounded out the order batting 2-for-3 with a run and two walks.

Lopez also lead the offensive game on his end as he went 1-for-5 with two RBI and one run, while freshman Jalen Hairston was 1-for-3 with the remaining hit. Dearing (one walk) also contributed in the game.

For the Titans, Aponte lead the way in hitting as he went 3-for-5 with two RBI and one run, while Wagner went 2-for-4 with a run.

Notes:

With his two hits, Karstetter is five away from breaking the all-time career hits record held by current Polk State Al Corbeil (184, 1998-99).

With his one walk, Woodburn now has 33 this season and 73 in his career. He needs 27 to surpass Jody Reed (59; 1981-82) for the most walks in a single season and 37 to surpass Joey Collis (109; 1994-95) for most career walks.

Other Suncoast Scores:

Polk State (16-11, 1-0 Suncoast) defeated Hillsborough (6-19, 0-1 Suncoast) 6-5 in game one.

Suncoast Standings:

1. Polk State (16-11, 1-0)

2. SCF (12-17, 1-0)

3. St. Pete (6-15, 0-1)

4. Hillsborough (6-19, 0-1)

Up Next:

The Manatees will head to Clearwater for game two for the second game against St. Pete. Freshman Ed Wagner will be given the nod to start the game.