St Petersburg Catholic Hold On For 3A-5 Victory

The St. Petersburg Catholic Barons hosted the Bradenton Christian Panthers Thursday night in a 3A-5 match-up. The Panthers scored first, but three runs in the third were enough for the Barons, who held on to win 3-1.

The Panthers (4-9, 2-6) jumped out to the early lead in the first. Jake Lister came around to score for the Panthers on a double to left field from Rob Arakel to take the 1-0 lead. Lister started the game on the mound for the Panthers as well and was strong through the first two innings, striking out three of the six batters he faced. Overall, Lister went five innings, allowing three runs on three hits while striking out six.

Entering the bottom half of the third, down by one, the Barons (6-8, 5-5) needed a spark to build some momentum. A wild pitch with one out led to the first run of the game for the Barons as Jose Hernandez crossed the plate to tie the game. On the next pitch, Mike Novak scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly from Lawrence Hamilton. The Barons added one more run before the inning was over to take a 3-1 lead.

Ben Buckley got the nod for the Barons and pitched strong over the course of five innings. Buckley threw 94 pitches, allowing just one run on six hits. He walked three and struck out seven in the victory. Micah Forester came into the game in the sixth to relieve Buckley and lock down the victory. Forester threw 30 pitches in relief, giving up just one hit and striking out two to pick up the save. The win snaps a two-game losing streak for the Barons.

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