Runde’s Complete Game Leads St. Stephens Past Imagine School

Nick Runde delivered a complete-game gem to lead St. Stephens to it’s first win of the season on Friday night, edging host Imagine School with a 4-2 decision. Runde took care of most of the outs himself, striking out 15 batters while allowing four hits and surrendering no walks.

The Falcons (1-2) started with a tough slate of road games to open the season, and in their second contest in District 3A-5 they evened their district record to 1-1. The club has two more tough district contests on the road before its home opener on February 27th against Seffner Christian.

St. Stephens scored a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to take the lead back for good. Mike Madigan connected for the most important of his four hits of the night, singling to center and then reaching third thanks to a single from Ben Tobio. Madigan came in on a wild pitch, and Tobio gave way to courtesy-runner Brett Thoma, who scored on an RBI double from Sam O’Dell.

O’Dell was 2-for-4 for the Falcons, and also set up a scoring play as Tobio came in on a throwing error moments before O’Dell singled in the seventh. Thoma also scored on an error in the first.

The Sharks (0-3) scored a run each in the second and third to take a 2-1 advantage. Rocco Lima singled and advanced on a ground out from Andy Duffey, before coming home on a wild pitch that got Imagine on the scoreboard. An inning later Brian Smith smacked a triple to drive in Dillon Williams, who singled to right field to get on base.

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