By: Pat Ciines

Tampa, Fla - The SCF baseball team (15-18, 4-1 Suncoast) continued to show a strong running via mercy rule as they defeated Hillsborough (5-24, 0-5 Suncoast) 12-1 in seven innings. With the win, the Manatees are now 44-23 against the Hawks.

"Today was a good conference win for us," said head coach Tim Hill II. "Michael Forret was in complete control from the very beginning and pitched very well. I'm glad our offense was in control with the big six-run rally in the second, followed by a five-run rally in the fifth. Now we can get ready for tomorrow with them (HCC) back at home."

"I thought we played extremely well," said freshman pitcher Michael Forret. "We showed that we played for each other and when we do that, good things tend to happen. It was really nice to get the first win out of the way and be able to move forward at 1-0 in the series. Getting ahead is part of the key to staying ahead of them (Hillsborough)."

Hill sent Forret to start game one for the Manatees, while Hillsborough head coach Raydon Leaton went with freshman Logan O'Leary.

After the first inning went scoreless, the Manatees would strike first at the top of the second beginning with back-to-back two out singles freshman Jalen Hairston and sophomore Liam Moreno, sophomore Richie Morales would bring in Hairston with an RBI single for the first run of the game. After classmate Brayden Woodburn hit an RBI double to bring in Moreno, sophomores Kevin Karstetter and Lucas Ismaili hit back-to-back singles to bring to Morales and Woodburn before classmate Mario Lopez, Jr. brought in Karstetter and Ismaili with a two-run single to make it 6-0 SCF.

At the top of the fifth, the Manatees extended their lead to double digits beginning with Morales reaching base on a fielding error by the third baseman. Woodburn would then hit another double to bring in Morales. After Karstetter was hit by a pitch, Ismaili would hit a double and bring in Woodburn and Karstetter before Lopez, Jr. hit another double to bring in Ismaili for the 10th run and invoked the 10-run mercy rule. Sophomore Ben Gilbert would then reach base on a fielding error while Lopez scored to make it 11-0 SCF.

At the top of the seventh, the Manatees would put their final run on the board as sophomore Victor Sanchez would hit a single and bring in Karstetter to make it 12-0 SCF.

The Hawks avoided getting shutout in the bottom of the seventh as sophomore Josean Sanchez would hit an RBI single, but it was all they could produce as the Manatees took the first win of the second series.

Forret would get the win after throwing a seven inning complete game, giving up one run on five hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts. He is now 5-2 on the season.

"I felt really confident on the mound," said Forret. "It was on of the few outings you can have that everything works. The fastball, changeup and slider were all working well and I was commanding very well. I knew with how hot our bats were that all I had to do was throw strikes and get outs and we would come out on top."

O'Leary would fall to 2-4 after giving up 12 runs (11 earned) on 15 hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

All nine players in the starting lineup had at least one hit with two-thirds of the lineup getting two or more hits. It was Woodburn that lead the way in hitting overall as he went 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs.

Ismaili, Lopez, Jr., Karstetter, Morales and Hairston each had two hits. Ismaili (2-for-4) and Lopez, Jr. (2-for-4) both lead the offense with three RBI apiece with Ismaili adding two runs and a walk, while Lopez, Jr. added one run. Karstetter (2-for-2) added one RBI, one walk and three runs, while Morales (2-for-4) added an RBI and two runs and Hairston (2-for-4) added a run.

Sanchez (1-for-3, one RBI and one run), Gilbert (1-for-5) and Moreno (1-for-4, one run) had the remaining three hits for the Manatees.

Sanchez brought in the only run for the Hawks as he finished 1-for-3 with an RBI. Sophomore Jacob Griffith and freshmen Clark Springs, Trey Santana and Cayden Box had the other four hits for the Hawks.

Notes:

With his two hits, Karstetter now has 184 career hits and has tied Al Corbeil (184, 1998-99) as the all-time leader in hits. He needs one more hit to become the all-time leader in hits. Additionally, he extended his hitting streak to 23 games and needs at least one hit in four straight games to break Tom Mckay's record (26, 1967).

Other Suncoast Scores:

Polk State (20-11, 5-0 Suncoast) defeated St. Pete (7-18, 1-4 Suncoast) 8-7 in Winter Haven. Game two for them will take place at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater Saturday afternoon, March 18 at 1 pm.

Suncoast Conference Standings:

1. Polk State (20-11, 5-0)

2. SCF (15-18, 4-1)

3. St. Pete (7-18, 1-4)

4. Hillsborough (5-24, 0-5)

Up Next:

Game two for the series will return home to Wynn Field against Hillsborough Saturday morning, March 18 at 11 am. Freshman Ed Wagner will be given the nod to start.