End of the road
The end to the baseball season came with shock and disappointment for the Mariner Tritons and Island Coast Gators Tuesday night in the first round of the state regional playoffs.
Two of the area’s teams with better records lost on the road in the regional quarterfinal round.
The Tritons (20-9), runner-up in District 4A-11, did not get their first hit in the game until the fifth inning and finished with just three in a 7-0 loss at Barron Collier.
The Gators (20-7), runner-up in District 3A-12, were victimized by two big home run blasts by senior Cameron Cox in a 5-3 loss at Bradenton Southeast.
“We played a good game, but what hurt us was we left five runners in scoring position in the first three innings,” said Gators coach Clinton Montgomery. “I wish we could have put the ball in play more. We struck out 11 times where we average four or five a game.”
After Island Coast took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Southeast (18-9) grabbed the lead on Cox’s two-run homer to left. The blast was so high that Gators left fielder Nelson Candelario ran toward center field, losing the ball in the setting sun.
The ‘Noles struck again after Island Coast (20-7) knotted the game 2-2 in the top of the third.
Again it was Cox who provided the thunder by drilling Tanner Renegar’s second pitch over the wall in center field. The three-run blast put the ‘Noles in front for good.
‘Noles starting pitcher Matt Fenske settled into a groove, retiring seven straight batters at one point before the Gators scratched out a run in the sixth and put the first two hitters on base in the seventh.
Cox came on in relief of Fenske and coaxed Taylor Renegar to hit into a fielder’s choice. Cole Ondrejka and Chase Vogelbach both flied out to end the game.
Taylor Renegar drove in two of the Gators’ three runs. He plated one run on a sacrifice fly and one on a base hit.
It is Southeast’s first regional victory since 2005. The ‘Noles travel to Bishop Verot for a Region 3A-3 semifinal game Friday night.
The Vikings (24-4) disposed of Cardinal Mooney 3-0 on Dan Vogelbach’s three-run home run in the first inning, accounting for all of the game’s runs.
Barron Collier senior pitcher Drew Jackson allowed just three hits in a complete-game shutout that helped the Cougars avenge a 9-8 loss to the Tritons in last year’s regional quarterfinals.
Barron Collier (20-8) hosts Estero (26-2) in the Region 4A-3 semifinal Friday night.
The Cougars scored all of their runs in the first three innings. Brendan Long drove in Gary Trapani in the bottom of the first with what proved to be the game-winning run.
The Tritons had the Cougars retired 1-2-3 in the second inning, but Wes Juarbe wound up reaching base on an error that kept the inning alive. After loading the bases, Zach Tillery made the Tritons pay when he ripped a three-run double to open a 4-0 lead heading to the third inning.
The Cougars added three more runs in the third after their first five hitters reached base. The seven runs was more than enough for Jackson, who struck out at least one batter in every inning for a total of eight.
The Tritons had just one runner reach third base in the game.
The Tritons’ first hit was a leadoff double by Jason Carmichael in the fifth inning. He went to third on a single, but the inning ended with a strikeout and a double play.
The Tritons got another leadoff double in the sixth inning by Walter Cleary, but failed to score on a groundout and two strikeouts.
“We didn’t give ourselves enough chances early in this game,” Tritons coach Steve Larsen said. “When we leave men on base in the last few innings, we give ourselves no chance at a comeback.”
The Tritons closed out the season with back-to-back shutout losses. They put together two six-game winning streaks during the season, the second of those being snapped by Estero in a 10-0 District 4A-11 championship game loss.
Island Coast 101 001 0 – 3 8 1
Southeast 203 000 x – 5 8 1
W – Fenske. L – Tanner Renegar (7-3).
2B – Gellinger (IC), Suchy (S). HR – Cox (S) 2.
Mariner000 000 0 – 0 3 3
B. Collier133 000 x – 7 9 0
W – D. Jackson. L – Gubelman (6-3).
2B – Carmichael (M), Cleary (M), Tillery (BC), Jackson (BC).
Jason Dill of the Bradenton Herald and Carl Bleich of the Naples Daily News contributed to this report.