By Marshall Tempest
Reporter
The Apopka baseball team is currently 6-4 as of Thursday, March 6, after two losses in the last week to West Orange and Timber Creek. Apopka defeated Cypress Creek and Boone High School and went 2-2 in their last four games, all on the road.
Apopka at West Orange (3-0) Loss
The Blue Darters couldn’t get anything going offensively in this game, as they collected just three hits and no runs. Head baseball coach Bobby Brewer told me after the game that the boys were struggling against the West Orange pitcher. He said the Warriors pitcher on the mound is one of the best they have had to go against all season.
“We got guys seeing this kind of pitching for the first time, so it’s a learning experience for them,” he said. “Like on-the-job training. We will get better as the season goes on.”
The Blue Darters had a team batting average of .130 and struck out 14 times at the plate.
In the loss, Connor McAfee, Tyler Spaid and Jez Hamrick were on the mound for Apopka. McAfee started and gave up three hits, three runs (one earned), three walks and collected seven strikeouts while throwing 61 pitches over three innings.
Spaid struck out three over two shutout innings of work on just 29 pitches. Hamrick followed with another shutout inning, working around a pair of hits.
“Connor did a great job on the mound. The guys that came in behind him did a good job, too,” Brewer said. “They just had a couple of balls that fell that we couldn’t get to, and that is how they scored their runs.”
Apopka at Cypress Creek (11-4) Win
The Blue Darters dominated in this one. They got it going in the first inning and never slowed down, scoring two runs in the first inning, one in the second, two in the third, two in the fourth, two in the fifth, two in the sixth and none in the seventh.
The Blue Darters had a .379 batting average and a .565 on-base percentage, thanks to 11 hits, 13 runs and one double. Leading the Blue Darters in the win at the plate was Aiden Rieli, who went 3-for-4. He scored three runs, stole three bases and collected three RBIs.
Camron Pennock and Logan Page were on the mound for Apopka in the win. The two combined for a 3.00 ERA, a .148 batting average against, a .233 on-base percentage against and 12 strikeouts.
Apopka at Boone (4-3) Win
This one did not look good for Apopka for most of the game, as they were behind two runs for three whole innings going into the top of the seventh. The Blue Darters were able to score one run in the first inning but couldn’t score any more after that. Boone went without a run for the first two innings but then exploded for three in the third inning.
Apopka sat behind 3-1, just trying to figure out a way to get someone on base, put the ball into play, and bring in a run. In the top of the seventh, the Blue Darters were able to break through for three runs, just like Boone did in the third inning. But the Braves could not score a run in the bottom of the seventh, which secured Apopka’s win 4-3.
Apopka also struggled at the plate in this game, with only three Blue Darters grabbing a hit. Hamrick, Reef VanKuren, and Rieli were responsible for all five of Apopka’s hits. Hamrick went 1-for-2 at the plate, VanKuren went 2-for-3, and Rieli went 2-for-4.
On the mound, Wyatt Jaggers and Maddox Stinson both pitched well, striking out six combined and allowing no earned runs.
Apopka at Timber Creek (4-2) Loss
This was a game of missed opportunities for the Blue Darters.
“That’s the first game we’ve given away all year,” Brewer said after the loss. “We gave that one away. We had five walks and hit three batters.”
Apopka and Timber Creek were tied at 2-2 after three innings, but Apopka fell behind when Timber Creek scored single runs in the fifth and sixth to take a 4-2 lead.
Apopka’s bats couldn’t find the sweet spot against the Timber Creek pitcher and struggled at the plate all night to get good contact and put the ball in play. The Blue Darters left the bases loaded in the third, missing a change to take the lead.
In the seventh inning, Apopka had a chance to bounce back, but more mistakes killed the rally, which ended with a caught stealing at third base. After the game, Brewer told me stealing third there was “just not good or smart baseball.”
Pennock, Spaid and Page pitched in the loss, striking out five and holding Timber Creek to a .095 batting average.
What’s next?
The Blue Darters have four games between Friday, March 7, and Friday, March 14. The first is at East River on March 7. The second is against the Villages Charter on Monday, March 10. The game was supposed to be Apopka’s first home game, but the field won’t be ready in time, according to OCPS, so the location was still undecided at press time. A scheduled home game against Dr. Phillips on Tuesday, March 11, may also need to be relocated. The fourth game is at Lake Nona on March 13.
The Apopka Chief is an award-winning weekly newspaper serving the greater Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923.
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