After defeating Palm Harbor 14-4 on Monday, the Plant City Raiders baseball team advanced to play the Strawberry Crest Chargers in the 2025 FHSAA district semi-finals on Tuesday.
Chase Conti took the mound for the Chargers to start. Sal Jaramillo led off for the Raiders and drew a walk. Drew Cothren dropped a sacrifice bunt and Jaramillo advanced to second. Alex Rodriguez grounded out to third for the second out. With Jaramillo still on second, Jake Carbaugh flew out to left field.
Hagen Smith started as the pitcher for the Raiders. Toby Highsmith was the leadoff hitter for the Chargers. Highsmith hit a double. Reuben Vasquez flew out to left field. Nico Cappucci was up next and grounded into a fielder’s choice and Highsmith was out at third. Dillon Knight singled with two outs, putting Cappucci on third. Knight stole second during Chase Conti’s at-bat. Conti flew out to right field to end the first inning with the score 0-0.
In the top of the second, Tyler Black led off for the Raiders. Black flew out to left. Matt Cieslo popped out to the catcher, Toby Highsmith, on a one-pitch at bat. Paul Overstreet was next up with no outs. Overstreet drew a walk on a full count putting two runners on with Keegan Wilkerson up. Parker Scott came in to pinch run for the catcher Overstreet and stole second. Wilkerson RBI doubled with a big hit over the Chargers left field giving the Raiders the first run of the game. Lane Baxter was up next and flew out to center field for the third out.
Yusvanny Parra led off for the Chargers in the bottom of the second. Parra hit a soft one to Raider’s pitcher Smith for a quick first out. Brisen Tweedy was up next and had a nice hit into the gap but was tagged out at third. Matt Hall was hit by pitch and took first with two outs. Saxon Shah grounded out to shortstop to end the second with the Raiders up 1-0.
Conti was back out for the Chargers in the top of the third. Jaramillo was up for the second time. Conti struck out Jaramillo. Cothren had a nice triple. With one out, it brought up Alex Rodriguez. He extended the lead with an RBI single through the right infield. Jake Carbaugh was up next due to a Chargers error in left field, Carbaugh got to first safely and Rodriguez reached second. Tyler Black singled, loading the bases with Max Cieslo up. Max grounded into a double play, getting the Chargers out of a tough situation.
Highsmith led off in the bottom of the third for the Chargers with Smith still pitching. Highsmith popped out foul for the first out. Vasquez singled down the middle bringing up Nico Cappucci. He flew out and Reuben was caught stealing second to end the inning.
Paul Overstreet led off in the top of the fourth with Saxon Shah now pitching for the Chargers. Overstreet grounded out to third base. Keegan Wilkerson was up next with one out. Wilkerson hit it right to the shortstop for the quick second out. Lane Baxter struck out for Shah’s first strikeout of the game.
Dillon Knight led off in the bottom of the fourth and reached third on an error by the Raiders infield. Conti was walked, putting runners on the corners with no outs and Yusvanny Parra up. Parra dropped a bunt, getting him out but moved Conti to second. Tweedy was up next with the tying run on second. Tweedy struck out, bringing Matt Hall up with two on and two outs. Smith struck out Hall for his second strikeout in a row to end the fourth. It was 2-0 Raiders.
Shah was back out for the top of the fifth for the Chargers. Jaramillo was up for the third time and struck out. Cothren got out and Rodriguez struck out to retire the top of the fifth.
Shah led off for the Chargers and struck out for the first out. That’s three strikeouts in a row for the Raiders pitcher Hagen Smith. Highsmith was back up for the third time and struck out, Smith’s fourth in a row. Vasquez was up with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. He grounded out to end the inning
Jake Carbaugh led off in the top of the sixth for the Raiders. He drew a walk with Tyler Black up next. Shah struck out Black for the first out. Max Cieslo was up to bat and grounded out, making it two outs. Overstreet was walked, putting runners on the corners. Shah struck out Wilkerson to send it to the bottom of the sixth.
Smith was still pitching for the Chargers. Cappucci flew out to right field for the first out. Knight was up next and struck out for the second out. Conti was up next with two outs. Conti singled, putting one on and Parra up. Parra flew out to center field for the third out.
In the final inning of the game, Saxon Shah was back out for the Chargers. Lane Baxter was up to lead off for the Raiders. Baxter was walked. Jaramillo was up next with no outs. Jaramillo was out but Baxter scored and extended the Raiders lead with a Chargers error. Cothren was up with one out and was walked. Rodriguez was up next and grounded into a double play for the out.
Hagen Smith was back out in the bottom of the seventh for the Raiders with a 3-0 lead. Tweedy and Tripp House both got out quickly. Shah struck out. Hagen Smith threw a complete game shutout, and the Raiders advanced to the district finals.
The Plant City Raiders will take on the Newsome Wolves on Thursday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m. for the 7A District 7 Championship.