The Plant City Raiders entered Friday’s game against the Strawberry Crest Chargers with a 2-1 record, while the Chargers were 1-2.
On the first pitch of the game, Sal Jaramillo was hit by pitch for the Raiders and took first base. During Eli Thomas’s at bat, Jaramillo was caught stealing for the first out of the game. Thomas was walked, putting one runner on with one out. Thomas went to steal second, but catcher Toby Highsmith threw him out for the second out of the inning. Brisen Tweedy struck out Alex Rodriguez and the Chargers held the Raiders scoreless in the top of the first.
Pitcher Jake Carbaugh drew the start for the Raiders and his first batter faced was Toby Highsmith. Highsmith ended up flying out to left field for the first out. Dillon Knight was up to bat and was walked. Chase Conti grounded into a fielders choice, but both Chargers runners were safe, bringing up Nico Cappucci with two runners on and 1 out. Cappucci was out after hitting it to the Raiders second baseman. With two outs, Reuben Vazquez was up for the Chargers. During the at bat, a wild pitch by Carbaugh advanced both Chargers runners. Another wild pitch scored Knight putting the Chargers on the board first. Vazquez was walked, bringing up Matt Hall with two outs and runners on the corners. Vazquez stole second on the first pitch. Carbaugh struck out Hall to end the inning with the Chargers up 1-0.
Paul Overstreet led off for the Raiders to start the second inning and was struck out by Tweedy. It was then two strikeouts in a row as Tweedy struck out Drew Cothren. Carbaugh then popped out and it was 3 up, 3 down for the Raiders.
Saxon Shah led off for the Chargers to start the bottom of the second. On a 5-pitch at bat, Carbaugh walked Shah. The next batter was Yusvanny Parra. He reached base due to an error by the Raiders infield. The next at bat was a pitcher vs pitcher duel as Carbaugh faced Tweedy with two on, no outs. Carbaugh won the battle as he struck out Tweedy for the first out of the inning. Highsmith was back up for the second time for the Chargers and reached first, loading the bases with Knight up. He extended the Chargers lead with a 2-run RBI single putting the Chargers up 3-0 with 1 out. Chase Conti was up next, and he hit a sacrifice fly to left field, allowing Highsmith to score. Nico Cappucci grounded out to second base to end the second inning with the Chargers up 4-0.
Hagan Smith led off the third inning and hit it directly to the Chargers second baseman for the first out of the inning. Lane Baxter was up for the Raiders and singled up the middle. Parker Scott hit into a fielders choice getting to first but Baxter was out at second. With two outs, Jaramillo was back up for the second time in the game. Tweedy struck him out to keep the Raiders scoreless through the first three innings.
Reuben Vazquez led off for the Chargers in the bottom of the third, reaching third due to a Raiders error. Hall was up next for the Chargers, and he flew out to right field, but it was deep enough for Vazquez to score and extend the Chargers lead to 5-0. Shah was up next and grounded out to shortstop for the second out. Yusvanny Parra was up with two outs and Carbaugh struck him out to end the third inning.
Eli Thomas led off the top of the fourth for the Raiders and grounded out to third base on the first pitch of the inning. Rodriguez was up next for the Raiders and was walked by Tweedy, which brought up Paul Overstreet with one out for the Raiders. It was back-to-back walks by Tweedy as Overstreet took first. Cothren was up with two on and one out. Cothren grounded into a fielders choice and Overstreet was out at second. That brought up Carbaugh with runners on the corners with two outs. Tweedy struck out Carbaugh to leave the runners stranded in the top of the fourth.
Tweedy led off for the Chargers in the bottom of the fourth and singled. Highsmith was up for the third time around. Carbaugh tried picking Tweedy off at first and the ball went past the first baseman, advancing Tweedy to second. Highsmith struck out for the first out of the inning for the Chargers. Knight was up next and was walked on a full count. Conti was up next with two on and one out. During his at bat, both Chargers runners stole the bases and advanced to 2nd and 3rd. Conti grounded to the pitcher and Carbaugh missed the tag. Conti was safe, and a Chargers runner scored. Cappucci was up next with two on and one out with runners on the corner. During the at bat, Conti stole second. Cappucci grounded into a fielders choice and was safe as the Raiders tried getting the runner out at home. The Raiders pulled Carbaugh and his younger brother Hunter Carbaugh entered the game. Vazquez dropped a bunt and executed perfectly as he reached second off a Raiders error, but he cleared the bases, putting the Chargers in the lead 9-0. Vasquez was caught stealing third for the Chargers second out. Hall then popped out to end the fourth inning with a 9-0 Chargers lead.
Hagen Smith was up first in the top of the fifth inning for the Raiders and was struck out by Tweedy on a 3 pitch at bat. Lane Baxter was up next and was struck out by Tweedy as well. With two outs, Parker Scott was up for the Raiders and Tweedy struck out the side to retire the Raiders in the fifth.
Shah led off in the bottom of the fifth for the Chargers and struck out. Parra was up next for the Chargers and flew out to center field. Tweedy was back up with two outs for the Chargers and Hunter Carbaugh struck him out to end the inning.
Tweedy was still on the mound to start the 6th inning for the Chargers. Tyler Black came in to hit for the Raiders and was struck out by Tweedy. Thomas was back up for the Raiders, this time with one out, and Tweedy struck out the sixth batter in a row. The next batter grounded out to second base for another 3 up, 3 down for the Raiders.
In the bottom of the 6th, Highsmith led off for the Chargers and faced off against Hunter Carbaugh. Highsmith sent the ball deep but was caught out for the first out of the inning. Knight was walked to put a runner on with one out. Conti was next up and popped out foul. With two outs, Cappucci was up. A wild pitch by Hunter Carbaugh had Knight advance to second. Cappucci had an RBI double to make it 10-0, which ended the game on a mercy rule.
Box Score:
Batting:
Reuben Vasquez 2 Hits, 1 Runs, 1 RBI, 1 SB
Toby Highsmith 1 Run, 1 SB
Nico Cappucci 1 Hit, 2 RBI, 1 SB
Saxon Shah 1 Run
Chase Conti 1 Hit, 2 RBI, 1 Run, 1 SB
Dillon Knight 1 Hit, 2 RBI, 3 Runs, 2 RBI
Matt Hall 1 RBI
Brisen Tweedy 1 Hit, 1 Run, 1 SB
Yusvanny Parra 1 Run
Pitching:
Raiders:
Jacob Carbaugh: 3.1 IP, 3 Hits, 9 Runs, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4K’s
Hunter Carbaugh: 2.1IP, 1 Hit, 1 Run, 1 BB, 2K’s
Chargers:
Brisen Tweedy: 6IP, 1 Hit, 0ER, 3BB, 10K’s