Rivals University, DeLand prevail
DeLAND — Orange City University’s baseball season was on the ropes Wednesday at Conrad Park before the Titans rallied behind timely hitting and the reliable left arm of Logan Allen.
Allen gave up two firstinning runs but struck out eight batters in six innings to help University qualify for the regional tournament with a 6-4 win over Lake Mary in a Class 9A, District 2 semifinal.
Relief pitcher Nathan Peden secured the win by forcing the tying run to pop out to right in the seventh.
University faces hosts West Volusia rival and tourney host DeLand for the district title tonight at 7.
“Lake Mary deserves a lot of credit because they came out here swinging the bat,” University coach Frank Martello said. “They were prepared, so we were fortunate to put together some runs and then rely on Allen and Peden to close it for us.”
Jackson Roberts drove in two runs to tie the game in the fourth. Jacob Molle, Cameron Robinson and Michael Sinopoli logged RBIs in the fifth to give University a 6-2 advantage and put the Titans in front for good.
Lake Mary jumped on the Titans when Frankie Niemann doubled to left field to drive home Austin Mitchell, then reached home plate on a single up the middle by Joseph Pesce.
But Allen settled in from there as he struck out five in a row over the course of the fourth and fifth innings.
The Titans were held without a hit over the first three innings before Roberts, who went 2-for-3 at the plate, connected on a fastball for a double to right field with two outs in the fourth to tie the game.
Josh Joseph appeared to chase down the ball at the warning track for Lake Mary but it came loose when he ran into the wall.
With its season on the line for a group of 10 seniors, DeLand avenged earlier losses to Seminole to qualify for next week’s regional tournament.
Stevie Moffatt broke open a tie game with an RBI single that scored Blaine Hogue in the top of the fifth inning and the hometown Bulldogs rolled to a 6-1 win.
DeLand ace Bryce Hutchinson finished a dominant performance on the mound by striking out nine batters and allowing just two hits and three walks through six innings.