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Blue Devils stymie Indians

Ray DiMonda
Posted 5/4/17

GREEN COVE SPRINGS - The Keystone Heights Indians were visiting Clay High School after a huge 10-0 win over the Ridgeview Panthers and the tradition of a friendly pre-game meal turned into a hit-fest …

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Blue Devils stymie Indians


Posted

GREEN COVE SPRINGS - The Keystone Heights Indians were visiting Clay High School after a huge 10-0 win over the Ridgeview Panthers and the tradition of a friendly pre-game meal turned into a hit-fest by Clay en route to a 4-0 win.

The difference, according to Keystone Heights coach Alan Mattox, was everything the Indians did to perfection against the Panthers, they just couldn’t get started against Clay.

“We played good, pitched it really well, had great at bats, played defense and of course tonight we did the opposite,” said Mattox, who enters this week’s district 5-5A tournament as the top seed. “Clay High is a well-coached team and they stuck it to us tonight.”

In the end, Clay rolled on to a 4-0 victory on Senior Night as they look to the post season and making their 2017 run to the State Championship.

Clay Head Coach Josh Persinger talked about how the season unfolded to the point they are at now.

“We have 15 wins. 15 games ago, no one thought we were going to have 15 wins,” Persinger mused.

The game went scoreless going into the bottom of the third inning. Both teams were getting runners on, but leaving them on base at innings end. When Clay came to bat in the bottom of the third, Michael Styron was hit by a pitch and put on first base. Andrew Jackson was walked putting Clay runners on first and second. Kevin Jackson put down a textbook sacrifice bunt to move the other runners to second and third. Cole Escher followed with a deep shot to the center field fence for a two run RBI double, scoring Styron and Jackson. Tyler Spence followed with a high fly that looked like it would go foul. The ball bounced inches in play earning him an RBI double. That was the end of scoring in the third as Keystone would stop the bleeding right there.

In the bottom of the sixth, Josh Lemen hit a line drive single into right field. Andy Yarbrough hit a ground ball back to the pitcher and was out, but moved Lemen to second base. Austin Burke would come up and hit a hard grounder into center field for an RBI single that scored Lemon, putting Clay up 4-0. The Blue Devils would put an exclamation point on the evening as the closed the game out on a double play, dashing the Indians hopes of making any comeback.

“Not too many highs, too many lows, but I’d definitely rather be where we are at than where we were,” said Persinger after a week of district 4-6A showdowns with Ridgeview and Ponte Vedra. “We’ve always had a real laid back atmosphere here. Kind of a controlled, structured craziness. They are very well behaved kids, they never get out of line, but we’ve always been a little bit goofy.”

District 2-8A

At Atlantic Coast

Teams (by seed): Oakleaf, Fletcher, Fleming Island, Atlantic Coast, First Coast, Lee

Schedule: Monday, Fleming Island vs. Lee, (FIHS wins 16-3).; Atlantic Coast vs. First Coast, 7 p.m.; Tuesday, Fleming/Lee winner vs. Fletcher, 4 p.m.; Oakleaf vs. Atlantic Coast/First Coast winner, 7 p.m.; Thursday, championship, 7 p.m.

Outlook: Wild card here is Fleming Island. Golden Eagles have one of the best arms in Billy Schopp and a erratic batting lineup that, obviously, can explode at any time. Coach Marty Lanoux is a battler in the dugout and seniors like Cory Solomon, Justin Stadelmaier and Austin Morton seemed determine to not go down without a fight.

Oakleaf is the runnerup from last year to Atlantic Coast, but the Stingrays graduated a stellar class and Oakleaf has been the top team most of the year. Seniors Chris Mauloni and Justin Wagers are the fire of the team with big bats and strong arms. The Knights infield crew, Keegan Barrs, Ian Marlar, Ty Andrews and Tristan Adams are big timers. This should be the Knights title to win although three late season losses to St. Johns Country Day School, Bartram Trail and Baker County leave room to doubt.

District 3-7A

At Columbia

Teams (by seed): Columbia, Gainesville, Ocala Vanguard, Middleburg

Schedule: Tuesday, Vanguard vs. Gainesville, 4 p.m.; Middleburg vs. Columbia, 7 p.m.; Thursday, championship, 7 p.m.

Outlook: First year Bronco coach Danny Pearce and the Bronco mystique need some help here, but never count out the ‘Burg.

District 4-6A

At Ponte Vedra

Teams (by seed): Clay, Ridgeview, Ponte Vedra, Menendez, Orange Park

Schedule: Monday, Orange Park at Menendez, 6 p.m.; Tuesday, Clay vs. Menendez/Orange Park winner, 4 p.m.; Ponte Vedra vs. Ridgeview, 7 p.m.; Thursday, championship, 7 p.m.

Outlook: Fireworks from all fronts in this one. Clay stormed at season’s end, Ridgeview has the seasoned lineup to get the game over with numerous late inning victories. Ponte Vedra is always a playoff threat. A Clay vs. Ridgeview final would be exciting. Connor Solomon, Austin Burke, Tyler Spence and Cole Escher have had hot bats for Blue Devils. Tyler “T-Rex” Robison is spirit of Panthers with Yamil Tosado and acrobatic gem at shortstop. Look for Garrett Barfield to be the gamechanger.

District 5-5A

At Santa Fe

Teams (by seed): Keystone Heights, Santa Fe, Gainesville P.K. Yonge, Bradford, Palatka

Schedule: Monday, Bradford vs. Palatka, 7 p.m.; Tuesday, Keystone Heights vs. Bradford/Palatka winner, 4 p.m.; Santa Fe vs. P.K. Yonge, 7 p.m.; Thursday, championship, 7 p.m.

Outlook: Keystone Heights has been bashing behind Gage Hall’s bat all year. They dimed Ridgeview, but lost to Clay in the last week. When they are hot, they score touchdowns. Connor O’Steen is strong on the mound.

District 2-3A

At St. Joseph

Teams (by seed): University Christian, St. Johns Country Day, St. Joseph, Gainesville Oak Hall, Gainesville St. Francis

Schedule: Monday, Oak Hall vs. St. Francis, 4:30 p.m.; Tuesday, UC vs. Oak Hall/St. Francis winner, 1:30 p.m.; St. Johns CD vs. St. Joseph, 4:30 p.m.; Thursday, championship, 4:30 p.m.

Outlook: Coach Tom Lucas at St. Johns has masterminded a peak schedule to ready his troops for May Mayhem and with monster wins over Oakleaf and Ridgeview to fuel the fire, the Spartans; Evan Englebrecht, Troy Britts and the Myers boys; Cody and Troy, seemed destined to be a Cinderella story. If only University Christian agreed.