WESLEY CHAPEL — The combined firepower of Wiregrass Ranch’s Drury brothers diminished the usually dominant Steinbrenner offense in a 4-2 victory.
After the Bulls (4-0) defeated Steinbrenner for the first time in four tries last season in the region semifinals, all the Warriors (3-1) had in mind was revenge Friday night.
But with junior Austin Drury on the mound, that was close to impossible as the left-hander struck out five and gave up three hits through almost five innings.
“It was all around an awesome game. The team played great and we knew we had to because they (Steinbrenner) were just as good as they were last year,” Austin Drury said.
As trouble approached and runners threatened the Bulls’ lead for the first time, senior ace Zach Drury came in to relieve his brother with a quick strikeout to end the inning. He used an intimidating fastball and deceiving changeup to keep the Warriors off-balance the rest of the game.
“Austin did a good job, and I just needed to come in and finish what he started,” Zach Drury said. “It got scary towards the end, but we all came through.”
Zach Drury started the offense off Friday night with a deep home run, but Steinbrenner retaliated after a pick-off attempt gone wrong. The Warriors scored on a passed ball to tie the score in the third inning.
But the game soon got out of reach in the bottom half of the inning when the Bulls demonstrated their true power by scoring three more runs from a bases-loaded situation off Steinbrenner junior starter Andrew Lindsay.
Lindsay later drove in the final run with a sacrifice fly to center.