Steinbrenner Wins First State Championship Ever

Steinbrenner manager John Crumbley is no stranger to winning championships, having earned three state rings as the skipper at Jesuit. Although he does not typically flaunt that hardware around, all this week leading up to his club’s 8A state tournament games Crumbley wore a different championship ring from his three with the Tigers and another as a volunteer assistant with his son at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Crumbley’s psychological plan was to show his players what it is all about, while encouraging them to prepare, slow it down and continue the magic of a historic season for the team.

Saturday night in the Class 8A state championship at jetBlue Park in Fort Myers the Warriors learned just what winning a championship truly feels like. On the strength of a massive seventh inning Steinbrenner came back to earn a 10-4 victory over Hagerty to win the 8A title, the first in the school’s short seven-year history.

“We’re just blessed to have kids that want to work hard and believe in what we do,” Crumbley said. “To have the fans who came down, the administration and the families, it is just a blessing.”

Trailing by three runs, the Warriors (27-5) erupted to bat around the order and collect nine hits and eight runs with their final swings to storm back from a three-run deficit. Batters kept finding holes and keeping the chain moving to first rally back to take the lead and then pile on plenty of insurance that paved the way to victory.

Freshman shortstop Daniel Bautista started it off with a lead-off single to right field to spark the offense. The club’s nine-hole batter came up twice in the inning and also scored the first run to begin the comeback. Bautista admitted that the players were all angry after the Huskies (23-8) broke open a tie game with three runs that had them three outs away from winning the game.

“In the bottom of the sixth we got a little out of control, and I knew I had to have a good at bat,” Bautista said. “I was just thinking of a base hit, and then thanks to God I got a base hit in that hole. It was just beautiful. It felt great and everybody was hyped and it was a beautiful moment.”

CJ Van Eyk and Nick Alessi both followed with singles that loaded the bases, and Patrick Morris sent a liner past first base to send Bautista in and start the rally.

“We left guys on base in every inning and I said it was our own fault we were in that situation,” Crumbley admitted. “But I felt if we could get to Patrick Morris, who is our leading RBI guy, I felt we had a chance. We got to him and we still needed some more. We preach three pitches, we preach seven innings and all of them came through with lasers in that last inning.”

The Cowboys were just getting going. Ryan Russell delivered next with a two-RBI single to right field that tied the game and Bradley Hession was intentionally walked in an attempt to set up a force at any base. Instead, Drew Burkhart got them the lead when he split the right-center field gap to clear the bases with a double. Garrett Raeckers followed with an RBI double down the left field line, Van Eyk singled to plate two more and Alessi singled past the shortstop to earn their final run.

The historic title also came after Gaither won the 7A title earlier in the day by coming back over Venice, 2-1 in eight innings. Crumbley admitted that the joy of the team’s big night was even sweeter knowing that their nearby neighbors also enjoyed their first state title ever on the same day and on the same field.

“Our schools are only about three miles apart,” Crumbley said. “It’s just great for them and for Coach Nelson North and Coach Jansen and all their guys. It is great for the Tampa community. It’s just a tremendous feeling and these guys will remember this forever.”

The Warriors opened the scoring in the top of the third. CJ Van Eyk was hit by a pitch, stole second and then moved to third thanks to a sacrifice bunt from Nick Alessi. That set Patrick Morris up for an RBI opportunity that he capitalized on with a liner past first base that sent Van Eyk home for the 1-0 lead.

Hagerty answered back to tie it up in the fourth. Riley Greene singled past the second baseman and made it to second on a wild pitch to get into scoring position. Joe Sheridan put down a nice sacrifice bunt that moved Greene to third and another wild pitch allowed him to come home and even the score.

Van Eyk put Steinbrenner on the scoreboard with a 1-0 lead in the third off an RBI double from Morris, and the club’s leadoff hitter was 3-for-4 with three runs on the night.

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