LUTZ-Steinbrenner (3-2, 3-0) went to Gaither (2-3, 1-1) Tuesday night hoping to breeze by another district foe after having tough times with district rival, Wiregrass Ranch the Friday before. The Warriors still came away with their third straight regular season and district victory but it was in no way an easy matchup as the Warriors won in comeback fashion 7-6.
Andrew Lindsay took the mound for the Warriors after gaining two runs of cushion room thanks to a strong top of the first inning by the Warriors offense. Hitting was coming back to the Warriors as easy as one, two, three. There were more ground balls being hit than easy out, pop flies, and the Warriors were taking full advantage with a young and speedy lineup.
But after two innings of domination, Gaither did something no other team has been able to do off of the 2015 pitching staff. Hit a home run. A deep fly ball over the high school version of Boston’s “Green Monster” drove in three runs thanks to back to back runners reaching base safely. Kenny Rodriguez smacked the ball off a fastball down the middle by Lindsay switching the momentum of the game from Steinbrenner confidence to Gaither Cowboy dominance.
It would be two more innings before Steinbrenner would assert an aggressive offense as left fielder Vance Gutierrez stepped up to the plate to lead off the top of the fifth inning, driving a ball and reaching first safely. Right fielder Drew Burkhart and Lindsay would also follow with hits as Burkhart stood at third and Lindsay stood at second while driving in Gutierrez. Catcher Chase DeBonis then drove in Burkhart on a sacrifice play bringing up Devon Connors who drove in the tying run and the go ahead run later in the top of the seventh.
“I didn’t have a very good first two at-bats and I left it out of my mind and went up to the plate, got my chance, and I put the ball in play, and just hustled. When I saw I hit in that last run, I was partying in my head and I was pumped. We are 3-0 in districts. We are rolling. I like the way we’re looking,” said Connors.
When facing pressure and allowing Gaither to go back on top in the bottom of the sixth with a score of 6-5, Lindsay came out and was replaced by CJ Van Eyk who finished off the inning without further damage done. Then in the bottom of the seventh after Connors and company drove in two more runs to put themselves up one final time in the game, Ryan Fatzinger, the Steinbrenner ace with a 0.00 ERA (earned run average) and 23 strikeouts, came in to claim the save. Striking out two batters back to back after letting runners reach first and second with no outs, Fatzinger secured the save with a ball being handled by the Warriors defense for the last out of the game.
“I got two big strikeouts with two big curveballs. We are still believing. No matter what team we play, we can’t drop down to other teams levels. We have to stay where we are,” said Fatzinger.
Written by Evan Abramson/Online Sports Editor
