At Brandon
Scores
East Bay 5, Brooks DeBartolo 2
Plant 3, King 2
Hillsborough 4, Spoto 1
Brandon 7, Steinbrenner 1
Pitchers of the day
Brandon coach Matt Stallbaumer called on left-hander Antonio Velez to pitch a crucial game. The sophomore showed plenty of poise, scattering five hits, striking out seven and walking two in a complete-game effort that helped the Eagles defeat Steinbrenner in a battle of tournament unbeatens. He set down the side in order in three of his seven innings. …Plant starter Jake Woodford went six innings in a matchup of undefeated tournament teams. He allowed five hits, fanned seven and did not walk a batter. …King left-hander Tyler Checkley pitched seven innings, allowing just three hits while fanning four and walking one in his team’s first loss of the season.
Hitters of the day
Plant’s Kyle Tucker went 2-for-3, scored twice and had the winning hit, a two-run home run to straightaway centerfield. …Ryan Anderson went deep for Brandon, his three-run shot to left-center in the fifth giving his team a 7-0 lead. He also singled and scored twice to go along with his three RBIs. …Tyler Blaisdell and Jacob Sickles, East Bay’s winning pitcher, each had two singles with Blaisdell scoring once and Sickles driving in a run. …Spoto’s Marc McCoy doubled and scored his team’s lone run.
Defensive gems of the day
With King trailing 3-1, leftfielder Donnell Taylor prevented further damage by laying out for a catch toward left-center with one out in the fourth. The third out in that inning came when catcher Jose Lopez stayed with a high fly to make the catch up against the fence. …Brandon had a runner on third base and threatened to score in the first, but Steinbrenner leftfielder Alex Hanson came in and made a diving catch to his left on Anderson’s line shot.
Did you know?
Brandon last won the Saladino tourney in 2008, and Plant’s last Saladino title came in 2004. The Eagles have won it six times, compared to the Panthers’ four.
Dugout chatter
“We got his back. He was awesome tonight. We knew he was going to throw strikes, and we had to put runs on the board to help him out.” — Anderson on Velez