By Pat Clines

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF baseball team (19-18, 8-1 Suncoast) were put to a test for Suncoast Conference play as they defeated Polk State (21-14, 6-3 Suncoast) 14-4 in seven innings via mercy rule. With the win, the Manatees are now 39-30 against the Eagles.

"That first inning was all the difference in the world," said head coach Tim Hill II. "Putting up 10 runs in the bottom of the first was pretty impressive and a lot of those balls were hit pretty hard and Michael (Forret) had a good top of the first where he struck out the side, but he set the tone pretty good and then the hitters just had a nice inning."

"I thought we came ready to play today from the very first inning," said sophomore Kevin Karstetter. "That was important and set the tone in the game."

"The first inning of having a zero and us coming up to the plate was amazing," said freshman Michael Forret. "We were prepared for this and we weren't too complacent as the game went on and we continued to keep the momentum going. I think we did our job and we were ready."

Hill sent Forret to the mound to start game, while Polk State head coach Al Corbeil went with freshman Evan Koehler to counter.

After Forret struck out three of the first four batters at the top of the first, the Manatees would open early in the bottom half of the inning. After back-to-back one-out singles by Karstetter and freshman Erick Almonte, sophomore Lucas Ismaili would open the door with a single to left to bring in Almonte for the first run. After a two-run double by sophomore Mario Lopez, Jr. brought in Karstetter and Ismaili, classmate Brayden Woodburn would show some power as he sent a two-run homer to left for his fourth home run of the season. After sophomores Victor Sanchez (walk) and Ben Gilbert (hit by a pitch) reached base, the Manatees batted around with Morales hitting a single to load the bases. Almonte would then bloop a single to center and bring in Sanchez and Gilbert before Karstetter sent a single to center to bring in Morales. From there, Ismaili would send a deep double to right-center to bring in Almonte and Karstetter for a 10-0 SCF lead. It signaled the end for Koehler as Corbeil would send sophomore Dawson Turner to come in and finish the first. This would invoke the mercy rule.

At the top of the third, the Eagles would get their first run on the board and stop the mercy rule as freshman Damion Kenealy would send a ground ball to left to make it 10-1 still in favor for SCF. Forret would be barely fazes as he got out of the inning with ease.

At the top of the fourth, the Eagles would add their second run as sophomore Cole Griffith would score on a fielding error before Forret struck out the next two batters. In the bottom half of the inning, Gilbert would push the lead up with an RBI single to center to bring in Sanchez.

At the top of the fifth, the Eagles would respond with a couple more run after an RBI groundout by freshman Ray Bermudez and an RBI single by sophomore Travis Stapleton made 11-4 SCF.

In the bottom of the sixth, Woodburn, who hit a single, advanced to second on a fielding error and moved to third on a wild pitch, would score on another wild pitch.

After Forret finished his portion of the seventh, the Manatees decided to end the game in the bottom half. After sophomore Liam Moreno hit a single before moving to second on a groundout, Almonte would reach second on another Eagle fielding error while Moreno scored. After Almonte moved to third on a Karstetter groundout to move, the native of Santo Domingo would score on a wild pitch and give the Manatees the mercy rule win.

Forret would bump up to 6-2 for the win after throwing a complete game, giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits with 10 strikeouts. This was his fourth game with 10 strikeouts (third straight).

"I felt good, especially in the first inning," said Forret. "Going into the second inning, my mechanics got  away from me a bit through the fifth, despite pitching well, I felt a little off. At start of the sixth and seventh, I told myself 'I got to lock it down and get the guys back up to the plate because the bats are hot' and I knocked it out in my best two innings and let the guys do the job at the plate."

"I thought his stuff was good," said Hill on Forret. "He didn't really have good clean innings, but the sixth and seventh innings is where he picked it up and was pretty aggressive on it."

Koehler would fall to 4-1 after giving up 10 runs (eight earned) on nine hits with one walk in two-thirds of an inning.

Five Manatees would have a multi-hit game. It was Almonte that lead the way in hitting as he went 3-for-5 with two RBI and three runs. 

Karstetter (2-for-5), Ismaili (2-for-4), Woodburn (2-for-3) and Moreno (2-for-4) each had two hits. Karstetter added one RBI and two runs, while Ismaili lead the overall offense with three RBI and one run, Woodburn added two RBI, one run and one walk and Moreno added one run. Lopez also had a multi-RBI game as he went 1-for-4 with two RBI and one run.

"I felt good at the plate," said Karstetter. "I had some consistent at-bat dating back to the beginning of the season. I was trying to focus on each pitch and each play because that is all I have left here with SCF and I just want to maximize while focusing on each pitch and usually good result happen."

Morales (1-for-4, one run) and Gilbert (1-for-4, one RBI and one run) had the remaining two hits, while Sanchez (two runs and two walks) also contributed in the game.

For the Eagles, sophomore Nelson Taylor and freshman Aris Rivera each had two hits.

Notes:

With the hit in the first inning, Karstetter extends his hitting streak to 27, which sets a new record held by Tom McKay (26, 1967).

"It was good for Kevin setting a new record," said Hill on Karstetter's new record. "He's such a great player and I'm glad he's on our team. This record won't have an asterisk on it because to hit 27 games in a row and break it from the 60s is very tough to do. That's a pretty impressive outing for him, so hats off to him."

Additionally, Karstetter's two hits put him at 192 in his career. Furthermore, his two RBI puts him at 137 in his career. He will need nine more to break Corbeil's (145, 1998-99) career RBI record.

Woodburn's one walk puts him at 38 this season and 78 in his career.  He needs 22 to surpass Jody Reed (59; 1981-82) for the most walks in a single season and 32 to surpass Joey Collis (109; 1994-95) for most career walks.

Other Suncoast Conferences Scores:

Hillsborough (6-27, 1-8 Suncoast) defeated St. Pete (9-20, 3-6 Suncoast) 16-13 in the first game,

Suncoast Conference Standings:

1. SCF (19-18, 8-1)

2. Polk State (21-14, 6-3)

3. St. Pete (9-20, 3-6)

4. Hillsborough (6-27, 1-8)

Up Next:

The Manatees will be ready for game two against Polk State at Bing Tyus Yard in Winter Haven on Saturday afternoon, March 25 at 1 pm. Freshman Ed Wagner (4-1, 4.25 ERA) will be given the nod to start on the mound for the Manatees.