Mariner, Cape advance in 6A-11 baseball
Mariner and Cape Coral High prevailed in their District 6A-11 Tournament quarterfinal matchups on Monday, but Island Coast was bitten by the upset bug and fifth-seed Port Charlotte knocked off the fourth-seed Gators 5-4.
No. 2 seed Mariner blanked seventh-seed North Fort Myers 3-0 to advance to Tuesday’s semifinal round while No. 6 seed Cape Coral dumped third-seed Cypress Lake 3-2.
Mariner hosts Cape High Tuesday in the semifinals while top-seed Ida Baker hosts Port Charlotte. Both games start at 7 p.m. with the winners advancing to the championship game on Thursday.
Mariner 3, North Fort Myers 0: Daniel Varner pitched a complete-game four-hitter to earn his sixth win in nine decisions this season. He struck out five batters along the way.
Nolan Byers led the Tritons (16-10) with three base hits with one RBI. Jimmy Meredith also knocked in a run, both of those runs scoring in the sixth inning to ice the victory. Mariner scored the game-winner in the first inning when a fielding error led to the first run.
Cape Coral 3, Cypress Lake 2: Tied 2-2 through three innings, the Seahawks (13-13) scored the game-winner in the fourth when Luke Schultz scored on a chopper struck by Brandon Dye for the win.
Spencer Roach’s leadoff hit in the first inning led to Cape’s two initial runs, the second scoring on a walk. Reed Harris earned the win on the mound.
Port Charlotte 5, Island Coast 4: Island Coast took a 1-0 lead early, but losing pitcher Feliz Camacho was charged with allowing five runs over two innings that proved to be enough for a Pirates victory.
Anthony Churlin and Alex Perez both had two hits for the Gators (13-13), who tacked on three runs in the fifth to come up short and closed out their season.