Baseball / Scorpions Swept By Suns In Season Series

Scorpions Swept By Suns In Season Series

Date:  Source: Florida Collegiate Summer League

DELAND, Fla-- The Seminole County Scorpions fell twice to the DeLand Suns Saturday at Melching Field. In-game one, the Suns won a back-and-forth game in 11 innings by a score of 13-12, and in-game two, they were able to come through with a big inning late to win 10-3. 

Game One Box Score

The first three innings of this ballgame were played at Sanford Memorial Stadium on Friday night, with the Suns taking an early lead in the first. After the inning was set up by a Hunter Fornari (FGCU) walk and a Mark Townsend (Stetson) double, Peter Hutzal (Marshall) and Alan Alonso (Mt. Olive) followed with an RBI groundout and an RBI single, to give the Suns a 2-0 advantage.  

Seminole County answered right back in the bottom of the second inning with a five-spot. Josh Reynolds (Embry-Riddle) started the rally off with a single, and Bobby Spitulski (Troy) worked a walk. Brooks Rikeman (Jacksonville) then followed with an RBI single for the Scorpions first run of the ballgame. Four more runs came across in the inning on a two-run RBI single by Anthony George (Jacksonville), and a two-run home run by Parker Smith (Rollins) to make it 5-2. 

DeLand came right back with three of its own in the top of the third inning. The top lineup set it up after Fornari singled and Townsend walked. Alonso followed with a two-run double to make it 5-4, and then he came across home plate later on in the inning on a heads-up baserunning play to tie it at 5-5.  The game was suspended in the fourth inning due to lightning in the area. 

Play of this game resumed at Melching Field Saturday evening in DeLand. With runners on second and first, Fornari came through with an RBI single to give the Suns the lead at 6-5. DeLand added two more runs in the top of the sixth inning to extend the lead. After Robert Bell (Bethune-Cookman) led off with a double, he was quickly sent home on a Joe McNamara (Winthrop) single.  Later in the inning, the Suns loaded the bases and scored another run to make it 8-5 after a Rodrigo Montenegro (St. Petersburg) RBI single. 

In the seventh, Seminole County kept battling and found themselves back in it. After Rikeman walked to lead off, George stepped up to the plate and hit a double in the left-center-field-gap to drive in a run. Smith followed with a double of his own down the left-field line to score George,  and the Scorpions only trailed 8-7. However, in the eighth, DeLand responded with some insurance runs to extend its lead. After back-to-back singles, Montenegro came through once again with a two-RBI single to make it 10-7. 

At the bottom of the ninth, the Scorpions needed three runs to keep this one going, and Gunnar Hoglund (Ole Miss) came through. After Topher Grant (Lenoir-Rhyne) reached on an error and George was hit by a pitch, Smith worked a walk on a 13-pitch at-bat to load the bases. On a 1-2 pitch, Hoglund ripped a double down the right-field line, scoring all three runners to tie the game at 10-10. Seminole County had a chance to win it with runners on the corners and one out, but Suns relief pitcher Alex Franzen (Kentucky Wesleyan) retired the next two batters to send it to extra innings. 

After both teams scored a run in the tenth, the Suns struck for two in the eleventh to give them a 13-11 advantage. Bell doubled to score a run, then came across home plate later on a McNamara sacrifice fly. At the bottom of the inning, the Scorpions were only able to score one run on a George sacrifice fly, and the Suns held on for the win. 

Game Two Box Score

In-game two, Seminole County jumped out to an early lead. After Klay Allen (ABAC) retired the first two batters, Smith and Reynolds hit back-to-back singles. Smith came around to score on a wild pitch all the way from second base,  to give the Scorpions a 1-0 advantage. 

DeLand was able to respond and score four unanswered runs the next two innings. In the bottom of the second, the Suns struck for three after a two-run triple by Bell, and an RBI double by McNamara. In the third, they added a run on an RBI single by Garett Wallace (SC Upstate). 

Seminole County kept fighting and found themselves within after five and a half innings. In the fifth, Rikeman led off with a single and quickly moved to third base on a wild pitch. With one out, George hit a sacrifice fly to score Rikeman to make it 4-2. The Scorpions added another run in the sixth on a balk by pitcher Connor Udell (Princeton) with Fausto Lopez (MTSU) on third base.

The Suns put this game away with a big six-run sixth inning. Andrew Paraiso (Holy Cross) was in relief and ran out of gas. He was coming out to pitch for his fourth inning of work, and DeLand took advantage of the issued walks. They scored six runs in the inning on only two hits. One of those hits was a two-RBI single by Hutzal, and the other was an RBI single from McNamara. 

The Scorpions were right there in both games Saturday but were unable to cash in on opportunities throughout. On the other hand, the Suns took advantage of their chances all series long. Head coach Jeff Lemon thought his team fought throughout this series. 

“Our guys have just battled all the way through,” said Lemon. “We are battling injuries right now, so anything we can get out of these guys at a competitive standpoint is better than what we can expect.” 

After the losses, the Scorpions record moved to 5-22-1 on the season. Seminole County finished with a 0-8 record against DeLand this summer. Sunday morning at 11 a.m. the Scorpions will travel to Lake Minneola High School to battle with the Winter Garden Squeeze. 

Matt McClure (Penn State)