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Island Coast overcomes Mariner in District 5A-11 baseball opener

Defending state champs take on North Fort Myers Thursday

By CJ HADDAD - | May 3, 2023

Mariner's Jayce Blasetti fires a pitch home against Island Coast Tuesday night. CJ HADDAD

The Island Coast baseball team took care of business in an FHSAA District 5A-11 semifinal game Tuesday at home versus Mariner.

The defending state champs picked up where they left off in postseason play from last year, collecting a 10-2 win behind the strong pitching performance of Kevin Martinez and a balanced lineup that saw five different batters produce run-scoring at-bats.

The Tritons (7-17) came out with a spark in the top half of the first inning, as Romero Gist singled, Xavier Muentes walked and Jacob Gorra singled to load the bases with one out. Cole Sandifer lifted a sac fly to bring home the first run of the game, and Kelan Jamison followed up with an RBI single to right to push the lead to 2-0.

The Gators (23-3) got one run back in the bottom half of the inning when Jordi Guerrero hit a lofting fly ball to left field that fell for a hit. Mariner kept the Island Coast offense in check though, getting out of the inning with the bases loaded.

“I wasn’t very happy early,” said Island Coast head coach Clint Montgomery. “I thought we came out a little flat. But we started putting together some better at-bats later. I thought we were a little aggressive early, and probably wanting to do a little too much. We got better as the game went on.”

Martinez went unscathed in the second and the Island Coast offense went back to work in the home half as Hunter Fretwell and Isaac Lopez hit back-to-back singles with one out. Martinez came to the plate and helped his cause, ripping an RBI single between third and short to tie the game. Jake Mueller gave Island Coast a 3-2 lead one batter later with a sac fly to right field.

In the bottom of the fourth, Island Coast pushed its lead to 4-2 thanks to a Gavin Hickman sac fly to left field after a few wild pitches put two runners in scoring position.

Montgomery was pleased with the way his hitters changed their approach in the box from the early stages of the game, moving runners over and manufacturing runs.

“We had a couple of two-strike RBIs that guys shortened up, did a job and put balls in play,” Montgomery said. “It’s always good to see some execution and it seemed we got a little more as we went on.”

As Martinez was settling in on the mound, so did the Gator offense at the plate. Two more runs came across in the fourth when Mueller laced a line drive single to left score Jason Richardson, who running for Martinez. Mueller scored himself a few at-bats later via three wild pitches, extending the lead to 6-2.

The score remained the same until the home half of the sixth when Island Coast added some insurance. Lopez led off the inning with a walk and scored when Martinez laced an RBI double down the right field line.

“Offensively, it’s going great,” Martinez, who went 4-for-4, said. “As a team, we’ve made a bunch of adjustments and most of our lineup is hitting the ball well. This night was big. I made the adjustment I needed to make and came through.”

Next, Muller collected his third RBI of the game with a groundout to short that scored Martinez from third. Emilio Gonzalez stepped up to the plate and rocked a triple to the fence and was brought home with a cue-shot off the end of Guerrero’s bat found a hole between first and second. Jayven Torres eventually plated the 10th and final Gator run with a single to left.

Martinez, who allowed just three hits after the first inning, shut the door in the seventh for the complete game. He struck out four Triton hitters and allowed just one free pass.

The senior, who has a 10-0 record this year with a 1.29 ERA, said it’s always taken a few innings to get going and really find his groove. He seems to get stronger as the game goes, and the radar gun and results proved that Tuesday night.

“I’ve never really been a first inning shutout type of guy,” Martinez said. “I’m kind of just used to it. After that, that’s when I just start feeling good. Into the late innings, that’s when I really start getting into a rhythm and feeling my best.”

Concerning Martinez, Montgomery said, “We said it all last year. For us, if we have a big game, we want Kevin to have the ball because he’s the guy with the mental makeup, not just the pitching stuff, but just the makeup to get on the mound and two runs doesn’t faze Kevin or anything like that.”

With the loss comes the end of the season for the Tritons. Head coach Tom Woodley said he’s proud of the way his young team (just two seniors in the starting lineup) came to play and got better as the season progressed.

“We’re young guys, and it’s ups and downs,” Woodley said. “We’ve been starting four freshman and three sophomores out there, and they’ve been competing well considering the circumstances.

“I’m proud of my guys. We lost (a lot) of guys this year, and you throw in Hurricane Ian. We still don’t have our dugout repaired and no cages. Our guys have been doing well and showing up in the right frame of mind and working their butts off. We have a good group of young kids. If they keep working, the sky is the limit for them.”

Island Coast takes on North Fort Myers (12-14) in the 5A-11 District Championship game at home Thursday at 7 p.m. Montgomery said his pitching staff is a bit beat up at this point in the year, and will turn to whoever has the “mojo” that night.

“We’re going to put some guys in rehab tomorrow and kind of see what the trainer tells us and we’ll make a decision who will start,” he said. “It could be by committee, but it’s also going to be by committee if someone gets a hot hand, we’re going to roll with them, and hopefully the first guy we put out there has that hot hand. But if not, we’ll roll through until we find someone who does, or we’ll have to score a bunch.”

– Connect with Associate Sports Editor CJ Haddad on Twitter: @haddad_cj