Tampa Bay High School Baseball
HSBN Prospects

Bloomingdale Blanks Park Vista 1-0 In 8A State Semifinal

The Bulls had their hands full with the Cobras base-stealers, but were able to keep them all from scoring.

8A State Semifinal Photo Gallery

Park Vista came close on Friday afternoon to making the 8A championship game an all South Florida affair. With South Dade winning earlier in the day, a Park Vista win would have guaranteed a champion from South Florida. Instead, the Cobras were unable to solve Bloomingdale’s Logan Crouse, and Park Vista’s storybook season came to an end with a 1-0, eight-inning semifinal loss.

“It seems like it was a year ago that we started this thing,” said Park Vista Manager Larry Greenstein. “Actually, it started back when they were all sophomores, that’s what makes it tough. The effort that these guys all put forth to get here is amazing. I commend our guys for just staying the course all year, and at the end they were all on that bus, and we fell just one game short.”

As has been the case with most of the games at the state tournament through the first week, pitching dominated on this day. Crouse threw eight innings of shutout ball at the Cobras, while Park Vista starter Austin Smith was nearly as good. Neither pitcher allowed a run in the first seven innings of the game.

Bloomingdale scored the winning run with a one-out walk, a stolen base, and an RBI single up the middle off the bat of Conrado Skepple.

For Smith, the outcome was bittersweet, as he knew he did his part on the mound. Smith gave up only six hits, and wiggled his way out of several early jams to protect the shutout and keep Park Vista in the game.

“I felt like I was filling it up good, throwing strikes,” said Smith. “I was pitching my heart out, doing my best.”

Offensively the Cobras had a couple of chances to break through against Crouse. Matthew Mika, Park Vista’s lead-off hitter, was in the middle of all of the scoring opportunities. In the first inning, Mika led off the game with a single, stole second, and moved to third on a ground out to short. That, however, was where he would be stranded after Crouse induced a ground ball off the bat of Joe Genord.

Matthew Mika was starnded at third base three times in the game.

In the third inning, with two outs, Mika doubled to left and promptly stole third. Crouse again worked out of the jam by getting Tyler Barre to ground to third. Ground balls to the left side of the infield was a theme all day for Park Vista, as Cobra batters had over ten ground outs to the left side in the game.

“He did a great job against us,” said Mika, who had three of the Cobras’ four hits. “His slider was working real well, and we just couldn’t figure him out.”

In the eighth, Mika tried one last time to get something started, hitting a one-out double. Dakota Julylia and Barre stranded Mika with consecutive ground outs, to second and short, respectively.

When the Bulls scored in their half of the eighth, the Cobras were left to reflect on what could have been.

Leave a comment using your facebook account!

Today's Games
Latest Scores
Scores last updated at 8:58 am
Lakewood Ranch Mustangs (6-6-1)
Braden River Pirates (7-6)
0
0
1:00 PM
Bay Port, WI
Northside Christian (10-4)
0
0
2:30 PM
Sumner Stingrays (8-4)
Palm Harbor University (10-1)
0
0
4:00 PM
Brooks DeBartolo Phoenix (4-9)
Bell Creek Academy (8-2)
0
0
4:00 PM
Seminole Warhawks (11-3)
Boca Ciega Pirates (2-11)
0
0
4:00 PM
Tampa Catholic Crusaders (9-5)
Cardinal Mooney Cougars (6-5-1)
0
0
4:00 PM
Montini Catholic, IL
Northside Christian (10-4)
0
0
4:00 PM
Maret School, D.C.
Manatee Hurricanes (11-3)
0
0
4:00 PM
Oasis Christian Lions (5-4)
Foundation Christian Panthers (7-1)
0
0
4:00 PM
Central Bears (6-7)
Mitchell Mustangs (3-9)
0
0
4:00 PM
Weeki Wachee Hornets (7-7)
Bishop McLaughlin (9-5)
0
0
4:00 PM
Lakeside Christian Lions (1-6)
Keswick Christian Crusaders (5-6)
0
0
4:30 PM
Tampa Prep Terrapins (8-5)
Seffner Christian Academy (10-2)
0
0
4:30 PM
Palmetto Tigers (7-6)
Inspiration Academy
0
0
5:00 PM
Lakewood Ranch Prep (0-2)
Sarasota Christian (4-4)
0
0
6:00 PM
St. Francis, NY
Santa Fe Catholic Hawks (9-4)
0
0
6:00 PM
Sickles Gryphons (11-3)
Dunedin Falcons (9-3)
0
0
6:30 PM
Sarasota Sailors (7-10)
Venice Indians (13-1)
0
0
7:00 PM
Spoto Spartans (3-11)
Wharton Wildcats (5-10)
0
0
7:00 PM
Calvary Christian Warriors (11-1)
Countryside Cougars (9-5)
0
0
7:00 PM
Upper Arlington, OH
Lakeland Christian (8-2)
0
0
7:00 PM
Bartow Yellow Jackets (5-7)
Lakeland Dreadnaughts (11-2)
0
0
7:00 PM
Frostproof Bulldogs (4-8)
Kathleen Red Devils (2-10)
0
0
7:00 PM
Sebring Blue Streaks (13-1)
Avon Park Red Devils (8-5)
0
0
7:00 PM
Sunlake Seahawks (4-7)
Carrollwood Day (13-2)
0
0
7:00 PM
Clearwater Tornadoes (5-9)
Pinellas Park Patriots (5-7)
0
0
7:00 PM
Indian Rocks Christian (6-7)
Clearwater Central Catholic (6-6)
0
0
7:00 PM
Plant City Raiders (6-8)
Alonso Ravens (6-8)
0
0
7:00 PM
Brandon Eagles (1-12)
King Lions (5-7)
0
0
7:00 PM
Chamberlain Storm (4-10)
Blake Yellow Jackets (1-8)
0
0
7:00 PM
Jefferson Dragons (11-4)
Bloomingdale Bulls (8-5)
0
0
7:00 PM
Lake Wales Highlanders (5-8)
IMG Academy Royal
0
0
7:00 PM
Discovery Spartans (10-6)
Lake Gibson Braves (1-9)
0
0
7:00 PM
Leto Falcons (5-8)
Hillsborough Terriers (6-7)
0
0
7:00 PM
St. Petersburg Green Devils (4-8)
Largo Packers (7-5)
0
0
7:00 PM
Steinbrenner Warriors (6-8)
Riverview Sharks (2-11)
0
0
7:00 PM
Durant Cougars (11-2)
Gaither Cowboys (9-5)
0
0
7:00 PM
Winter Haven Blue Devils (11-2)
McKeel Wildcats (12-1)
0
0
7:00 PM
Tampa Bay Tech Titans (4-8)
Freedom Patriots (3-10)
0
0
7:00 PM
Lake Region Thunder (6-5)
Fort Meade Miners (8-5)
0
0
7:00 PM
Greenbrier West, WV
Tarpon Springs Spongers (8-6)
0
0
7:00 PM
Plant Panthers (11-3)
Newsome Wolves (11-3)
0
0
7:00 PM
Middleton Tigers (0-8)
Robinson Knights (8-7)
0
0
7:00 PM
DeSoto County Bulldogs (0-10)
Mulberry Panthers (9-6)
0
0
7:00 PM
East Lake Eagles (11-1)
Nature Coast Tech (10-2)
0
0
7:00 PM
Victory Christian Storm (3-8)
Auburndale Bloodhounds (2-11)
0
0
7:30 PM
View Full League Schedule
Tampa Bay
×
Teams» Players
Player Search» College Signees» College Prospects»
Schedule» Stats Leaders
Batting Leaders» Pitching Leaders» Batting Stats Table» Pitching Stats Table» Team Batting Stats» Team Pitching Stats»
Skills Leaders
Top GPA» Top Batting Exit Velocity» Top 60 Times» Top 30 Times»
Power Rankings» Player Honors
All-HSBN Teams» All-District Teams» Senior All-Star Teams»
Team Admin» High School Baseball Network HSBN Websites
HSBN Broward» HSBN Jacksonville» HSBN Miami-Dade» HSBN North Central Florida» HSBN Orlando» HSBN Palm Beach» HSBN Panhandle» HSBN Southwest Florida» HSBN Space Coast» HSBN Tampa Bay» HSBN Leagues» HSBN Tournaments»
HSBN Stats Leaders
Batting Leaders» Pitching Leaders»
HSBN Skills Leaders
Highest GPA» Best Batting Exit Velocity» Fastest 60 Times» Fastest 30 Times»
HSBN Power Rankings» HSBN Team Search» HSBN College Prospects» HSBN College Signees» HSBN Events Schedule»
HSBN Prospects

Home

Standings

Scores

Players