Plant blanks Windermere in Class 7A Region 2 final
Editor’s note: A long list of Tuesday night state playoff games included baseball at The First Academy and a softball game at Lake Brantley that were delayed by lighting. Check SentinelVarsity.com online for more scores and news.
Tuesday afternoon’s Class 7A Region 2 baseball final started off about as well as host Windermere could have wanted.
Visiting Tampa Plant went scoreless in the top of the first with a pair of strikeouts from Wolverines sophomore starting pitcher Cannon Feazell. Then Windermere’s leadoff hitter, senior Blake Cyr, ripped a triple to left-center field.
But Plant’s pitcher, Thomas Bolton (5-0), displayed what fans saw for seven innings as he struck out the next three Wolverines. The Panthers (23-6) scored a run in the next half inning and added another in the top of the sixth. That was enough for a 2-0 victory over Windermere (25-4), which came in ranked No. 4 in the FHSAA 7A power rankings.
Bolton was virtually unhittable the rest of the way, giving up just one more hit and no walks while striking out 7 in the complete game shutout. Simon Sobelia had the leadoff single in the third inning.
“There was a generous outside corner strike zone, and he did a good job of hitting it and earning it,” Windermere coach Eric Lassiter said. “We had the leadoff triple and don’t put a ball in play the rest of the inning to get the runner in. Who knows what kind of momentum that builds if we scored.”
The loss ended a 14-game winning streak for Windemere, which hadn’t lost since April 1 against Dr. Phillips.
“Usually giving up just two runs works for us, but their offense was better today,” Lassiter added.
It’s the second time in three seasons the Wolverines reached the regional final before falling short of a state semifinal berth. But considering the obstacles they had to overcome to get to the round of eight, Lassiter was still happy about the season.
“We went through a lot of adversity, losing our catcher and senior leader [Gustavo Mendez] to injury with two weeks left in the season, and losing two of our relief pitchers [Cruz Warp and Blayke Rabens] to injuries,” he said. “But I’m so proud of how we came together. We tied the school records for wins and had the highest winning percentage for the program, and Blake Cyr carried our offense and stepped into a leadership role after Gustavo got hurt.”
One bit of good news is that Warp should be back next year after a serious car accident in which he was the passenger. He was on hand to watch his team with a neck brace and gave his coach a hug after the tough loss.