The Florida League is headed back to Orlando after finishing with a tie and a loss in the 2018 Southeast Collegiate Prospect Showcase. Aside from the FCSL, other participants included the Sunbelt, Southern, Valley and Ripken leagues.

Game One Box Score

After a nine-hour bus ride that left Bishop Moore High School before 6 AM on Monday, the Florida League found themselves playing the Valley League on Monday evening. It was a marquee matchup featuring two of the top summer leagues in the country. More than twenty scouts were in attendance to watch the two teams battle.

Devin Meyer (Nova Southeastern/Rats) earned the starting nod for the FCSL. He was nearly flawless in the first inning, recording two strikeouts in a shutout frame. Unfortunately, Florida was unable to score in the bottom half.

The second inning was a different story as the Valley put their sticks to work. JD Mundy (Virginia Tech) led the inning off with a home run to deep right field. With one out and runners on the corners, the Valley executed a double steal to perfection to score a second run. An RBI single from Aaron Palensky (Southeast) made it a 3-0 ballgame. The Valley then ran the double steal again, scoring a fourth run. Austin Embler’s (UNC-Greensboro) double drove in the fifth run of the inning. Vlad Nunez (Stetson/Rats) was called on to relieve Meyer, and he did so with a strikeout to end the threat.

After Florida failed to score in the bottom of the second, Nunez then struck out the side in the third on twelve pitches. In the bottom half, Javeon Cody (Alvin/Lightning) walked and Matt Mulkey (Winthrop/Suns) singled to put two men on. After a double steal moved both runners up, Nick DeTringo (Tampa/Suns) delivered a single through the left side to score both runners and make it 5-2.

Nunez then dominated the Valley hitters once more, retiring the side on a popout, groundout and strikeout, his fifth of the game.

“Vlad Nunez was really impressive on the mound,” said Floirda League skipper Rich Billings (Leesburg). “Without his effort, I’m not sure we would have come back against the Valley.”

Florida struck again in the fourth. Kerry Carpenter (Virginia Tech/Scorpions) drew a leadoff walk, and moved to third on a pair of groundouts. With two outs, the pressure was on Jarrod Cande (Santa Fe/Rats) to come through, and he did. Cande blasted an 0-2 pitch to the right-center gap and hustled all the way to third for an RBI triple. He would be left stranded, but the score now stood at a manageable 5-3.

JP Williams (Undecided/Dawgs) was called on to throw the fifth and sixth innings. He performed admirably, notching three strikeouts over two no-hit innings. In the bottom of the sixth, DeTringo led things off with a triple to left-center, and subsequently scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-4.

Things got interesting in the seventh when Jeremy Orbik (Stetson/Rats), who replaced Williams, gave up a leadoff double. The junior righty was able to settle in and retire the next three hitters to escape the jam.

The top of the eighth provided more drama for both sides. Back-to-back one out hits put men on the corners for the Valley. Zebulon Vermillion (Arkansas/Rats) was given the opportunity to shut things down, which he did to perfection. After striking out his first hitter, the Valley ran their patented double steal for a third time. The Florida League was ready as second baseman Geordon Blanton (Marshall/Suns) intercepted the throwdown to second, and returned the ball back home where Josh Crouch (State College of FL/Rats) applied the tag for out number three. In the bottom half, Alex Jackson (Wichita State/Dawgs) made it all the way to third base with one out, but was left stranded. The score remained 5-4 at this point.

Vermillion continued his dominance in the ninth, retiring the Valley in order with two strikeouts and a groundout.

“(Vermillion) is the number one pro prospect I’ve seen at this event so far,” remarked D1baseball.com lead writer Aaron Fitt.

Florida was down to their final at bat in the bottom of the ninth. The first two batters of the inning struck out against Anthony Zimmerman (Fordham), who has been dominating the Valley all summer with a 0.00 ERA. With two outs, Blanton worked a walk and made it to first base. Cande followed suit, putting two men on for Andrew Labosky (Nova Southeastern/Rats). On a 1-2 count, Labosky flared an outside fastball down the left field line for a double, scoring Blanton and tying the game at five. No further damage was done, and the game ended five-all. Because of the pre-planned pitching rotations, it had been determined that ties would be allowed in the Showcase.

“I was thrilled with the way that our guys battled back on Monday night,” remarked Billings. “There is a ton of talent on this roster, and I knew we would be able to stay in the game.”

Game Two Box Score

The Florida League suited up once more on Tuesday afternoon to take on the Ripken League.

This time the Florida League was the visiting team. DeTringo stayed hot at the plate reaching first base on a leadoff single. Crouch added a base hit of his own out of the three hole to put men on the corners, but no run would come across. In the bottom half, league strikeout leader Josh Shapiro (Marshall/Lightning) tallied a pair of punchouts.

The Florida League offense went down in order in the top of the second, and then Hunter Caudelle (Georgia Gwinnett/Lightning) returned the favor by retiring three straight Ripken hitters.

In the third inning, Adams Torres (UCF/Squeeze) started things off with a double down the right field line. Andres Ugarte (Reinhardt/Scorpions) moved him to third with a single before DeTringo’s single plated Torres to make it 1-0. Ripken was able to tie the game in the bottom half when Carl Gindl (Ole Miss) tripled in a run.

Sloppy defense in the fourth inning cost the Florida League a run. A base hit to the outfield got under Cande’s glove, putting a man on second. A hit by pitch followed, and a fielder’s choice put men on the corners. Louis Davenport (Seminole State/Leesburg) then coaxed Fox Semones (James Madison) into a weak line drive to the right side, but it moved so slowly that he was able to beat the throw to first and a run scored.

Florida came fighting back in the top of the fifth with an offensive display. Alex Jackson singled to lead things off, and went all the way to third on a failed pickoff. Sadler Goodwin (Troy/Squeeze) wasted no time driving Jackson in on a sac fly to center. Torres was the next hitter, and deposited a 3-2 pitch roughly 385 feet to left field for a solo home run. Crouch wrapped up the inning with an RBI single that scored DeTringo, making the score 4-2. Michael Cullen (Chipola/Squeeze) threw a scoreless fifth to preserve the lead.

Ripken tied things up in the bottom of the sixth when Mitch McIntyre (BYU) sent an absolute bomb to dead center with a runner on. Sam Bertelson (Texas) then did the same in the 7th inning, giving Ripken a 6-4 lead. The Florida League offense was not able to come back. On a high note, Mat Oset (New Orleans/Scorpions) and Pedro Reyes (Miami Dade/Lightning) each threw perfect innings with two strikeouts in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

Despite not winning a game, Coach Billings was pleased with his team’s effort.

“This is always a great event. It’s good for the players to get exposure to other leagues and professional scouts and college coaches. Exposure for the players is the main goal. Making sure each player gets at bats and pitchers get innings. We want all of our guys to have fun and compete, which I think they did.”

Billings was high on the performance of DeTringo; “It was great seeing Nick have success after coming off an injury. He sparked our offense on both days.”  The Tampa senior finished with six hits in eight at-bats, good for a .750 average. He scored twice and drove in three runs.

Regarding Adams Torres, Billings also said “He was really good on both sides. His defense kept us in both games, and he obviously is a huge weapon on offense.” Both of his hits were for extra bases, giving him a 1.200 slugging percentage.

Josh Crouch had three hits, while Andres Ugarte, Alex Jackson, Jarrod Cande and Torres each chipped in with two apiece.

A total of fourteen pitchers saw action on the mound for the Florida League. Nine of them recorded multiple strikeouts, including five from Vlad Nunez and three from JP Williams and Zebulon Vermillion. The Florida League staff struck out 25 hitters, while the offense only struck out 15 times.

This was the sixth year of the showcase, with the Florida League now holding a career 5-2-2 record in the event.

2013
Sunbelt 4, Florida 3

2014
Florida 4, Sunbelt 4

2015
Florida 3, Sunbelt 0

2016
Florida 5, Sunbelt 0
Florida 11, Southern 1

2017
Florida 4, Ripken 2
Florida 13, Sunbelt 2

2018
Florida 5, Valley 5
Ripken 6, Florida 4