"It was a great ballgame and they (HCC) played us tough with another close game," said head coach Tim Hill II. "While they are eliminated from postseason, they still played like they are trying to win the conference and that is what our conference is about and we have great teams. I thought Hillsborough played really well and fortunately we had one more run than them."

 

"I thought the hitters did a great job battling and being pretty selective with the pitches they got and not swinging at everything," said freshman Michael Forret. "I think it was a complete game as a team."

 

"I just think we played a complete game all-around and we have been doing that all year," said sophomore Lucas Ismaili. "We just need to keep it up and take it one game at a time and good things will happen."

 

"I thought overall we played really well as a team," said sophomore Liam Moreno. "Mike (Forret) had a great start of six innings and are bats were picking on their (HCC) pitches and then towards the end, the pitching took over from there with Richie (Morales) closing the game."

 

Hill sent Forret to the mound to start game one, while HCC head coach Raydon Leaton went with freshman Trey Santana.

 

As Forret breezed through the first inning, the Manatees would respond on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the first. After back-to-back singles by sophomore Richie Morales and freshman Erick Almonte, sophomore Kevin Karstetter would bring in Morales for the first run of the game. Following the sacrifice fly, classmate Lucas Ismaili would line a two-run home run for his eighth of the season for a 3-0 SCF lead.

 

After the second inning went scoreless, the Hawks would bring in their first run after sophomore Jacob Griffith would bring in a run on a groundout. The Manatees would respond back as Ismaili would bring in Karstetter to make it 4-1 SCF.

 

At the top of the fourth, the Hawks would cut the Manatees lead in half as freshman Chris Cabina would hit a hard ground ball down the third base line for a double to make it 4-2 still in favor of SCF.

 

At the top of the sixth, the Hawks would then cut the lead to 4-3 as sophomore Johnathan Bruno smacked a leadoff solo homer to left for his third of the season. Forret still remained calm and was able to finish the sixth inning without fuss.

 

In the bottom of the sixth, the Manatees would bring the lead back up as Moreno would hit a one-out solo shot to right for his first collegiate home run in his career.

 

"It was awesome getting my first collegiate home run," said Moreno. "I'm glad I got to celebrate it with my boys. The pitcher (Faulkner) did a nice job in my previous at-bat and then gave me an outside fastball to try and sneak it behind me and it was kind of in the same spot and I just poked it out towards right field."

 

"Hats off to Liam," said Hill on Moreno. "After we stopped scoring and they started to chip at our lead, he stepped up big for us with that home run and the pitcher (Faulkner) threw really well, so him getting that home run helped us increase our lead and stretched it for us."

 

After an Almonte single before advancing to third on a wild pitch, Karstetter would send a hard infield single to third and bring in Almonte before Ismaili sent a infield single of his own to first while Karstetter scored to make it 7-3 SCF.

 

Hill would then send sophomore Ben Gilbert to the mound to come in for Forret. After he got out of the seventh without fuss, the Hawks would get Gilbert to buckle as they cut the deficit to 7-6 after sophomore Jackson Hugus (RBI hit by pitch and scored on wild pitch) and  freshman Clark Springs (RBI groundout) brought in the runs. Gilbert was able to get the runner out at third after he attempted to score on a botched ball, but Hill would then send Morales to come in for Gilbert and would get Springs to strikeout in the eighth before he sealed the deal at the top of the ninth.

 

Forret would improve to 9-2 after giving up three runs on seven hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.

 

"I felt good for the most part," said Forret. "I was just coming off of being sick and during the game I felt a little bit off, but overall I felt pretty good. I let the ball get put in play and let the guys take care of it and overall kept them to only three runs."

 

"I thought Michael threw really well after recovering from sickness where he gutted it out in his last start," said Hill on Forret. "While he looked like he wasn't strong as he was earlier, he still played a great game on the mound and gave us everything he had."

 

Morales would be credited with his second save of the season after throwing one and a third scoreless innings, giving up two hits with one walk and three strikeouts. He was also 1-for-3 with a run, a walk and a stolen base.

 

Gilbert threw one and two-thirds innings of relief, giving up three runs on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

 

Santana would fall to 0-2 after giving up three runs on three hits with one walk in one inning.

 

Redshirt freshman Toma Faulkner gave up one run on two hits with four walks and one strikeout in one and two-thirds innings of relief, while freshman Mason Tinsley gave up three runs on five hits with five strikeouts in five and a third innings of relief.

 

Ismaili would be the leader in hitting for the Manatees as he finished 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI.

 

"I felt good at the plate," said Ismaili. "I was just taking it pitch by pitch every time I step up to the plate and it's been working, so I keep doing what I'm doing and good things should happen."

 

"Lucas has swinging well for us all year," said Hill on Ismaili. "There's a reason why he's hitting in the four hole for us and he just wants to win and obviously getting the long ball in the first inning helped us."

 

Karstetter would follow as he finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs, while Almonte rounded out the order as he finished 2-for-4 with two runs.

 

Lopez (1-for-2, two walks) and Moreno (1-for-3, one home run and one walk) had the remaining two hits, while sophomore Victor Sanchez (one walk) also contributed in the game.

 

For the Hawks, Santana (2-for-5, two runs), Griffith (2-for-4, one RBI) and Bruno (2-for-4, one home run and two runs) lead the way in hitting as they each had two hits.

 

Notes:

Forret was named the NJCAA Region 8 Pitcher of the Week.

 

With his two hits and two RBI in the game, Karstetter now has 214 career hits and 152 career RBI.

 

As a result of the win, the Manatees have clinched a spot in the NJCAA Region 8 State Tournament.

 

Other Suncoast Scores:

Polk State (29-17, 11-5 Suncoast) defeated St. Pete College (15-25, 6-11 Suncoast) 10-2 in Clearwater.

 

Suncoast Conference Standings:

1. SCF (28-20, 14-3)^

2. Polk State ((29-17, 11-5)

3. St. Pete (15-25, 6-11)

4. Hillsborough (9-35, 3-14)*

 

^Clinched Spot in Tournament

*Eliminated from Playoff Contention

 

Up Next:

The Manatees will head on the road for game two against Hillsborough as they will George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Freshman Brandon Clarke will be given the nod to start the game in his official SCF debut.