Northside Christian Defeat St. Stephens For Sixth Straight
The Northside Christian Mustangs traveled to the face 3A District 3 rival, St. Stephen’s Falcons Tuesday night in St. Petersburg. The Mustangs sent senior Hunter Flack to the mound to oppose Sam O’Dell of the Falcons and thanks to a strong pitching effort and a six run fourth inning, the Mustangs defeated the Falcons 6-2, winning their sixth game in a row.
The Mustangs (7-1) fell behind in the first inning after an RBI single by catcher Jake Westberry brought home infielder Ben Tobio to give the Falcons (2-4) the 1-0 lead. The Falcons doubled their lead in the top of the fourth inning when Noach Font crossed the plate after Jackson Sauerbeck sent a 0-2 pitch into left field.
Down 2-0 in the fourth, the Warriors bats finally came alive. Sophomore Jonathan Alonso led the inning off by working an eight pitch walk. Ryan Ranero came in to pinch run for Alonso and scored the first run of the game for the Warriors from third on a wild pitch. The tying run was scored by Evan Dolan after Brendan Tracy hit a hard ground-ball passed the infield. The game was busted wide open later in the inning. Luke Vari took the second pitch he saw and sent it into left field for a double, bringing home sophomore Brian Fuller, followed closely by Tracy. The Mustangs added two more runs before the end of the inning, to take a four run lead.
Once the Mustangs took the lead, they did not relinquish it. Flack went five innings, throwing 77 pitches, allowing just the two runs, one of which was unearned. Flack walked only two batters while striking out the same. Sophomore Kyle Goldberg came in for the sixth and threw 18 pitches and allowed no hits and no runs. Goldberg was replaced by sophomore Corey Yawn who closed the game out by sending the Falcons down in order in the seventh. The victory gives the Mustangs their fifth district win of the season, they now hold a 5-0 record.