Ridge Community Bolts baseball beats Haines City Hornets
HAINES CITY, Fla. (BVM) — The Ridge Community Bolts beat the Haines City Hornets thanks to a stellar performance from senior starting pitcher Avery Gabriel. The win brought the Bolts’ record to 15-3 and was their third win in a row and their 10th in the team’s last 11 games. The Bolts have now swept the season series against Hornets, after taking the first game of the year back in late February in a home game for the Bolts.
Bolts senior starting pitcher Avery Gabriel led the team to a win, going all seven innings finishing with a 109-pitch count. There is a limit for Florida high school pitchers set at 105 pitches in a single game, but Gabriel was allowed to reach 109 since his pitch count was below 105 at the start of the last batter he faced. If that batter would have reached base, Gabriel wouldn’t have been able to finish the game.
Although Gabriel didn’t have to worry about that situation after he capped off his big game with his tenth strikeout of the game. Gabriel finished the game going all seven innings allowing three unearned runs with a walk and only four hits, he also allowed two more baserunners after hitting two batters. Gabriel was also able to contribute on the offensive side, going 2-for-4 at the plate and providing run support with an RBI.
Ridge Community junior Brian Ehrlich was able to spark the Bolts’ lineup in the game, going 2-for-4 while driving in two and scoring a run. Ehrlich helped the Bolts take the lead with a double in his first at-bat that led to him scoring after a sac fly from senior Dariel Rios, which put the Bolts up in the first inning. Rios would continue to contribute to the scoring for the Bolts when he hit a single that drove in Delvin Camillo and Anthony Ferrer in the fourth and the last runs for Ridge.
The Hornets battled back to take the lead in the bottom of the second inning. Haines City senior Josh Johns was able to reach base safely after an error, and junior Remington Young was hit by a pitch, which led to them moving into scoring position after a sacrifice from senior Kenneth Armstrong. The Hornets’ Jadiel Rivera came through for the team when he knocked an RBI single, which was followed by a sac fly from Andrew Conrad that gave Haines City a 2-1 lead.
The Bolts didn’t let this rally by the Hornets keep them down; they continued to do what they have all year and play winning baseball. Bolts senior Juan Saldarriaga and Camilo both singled in the fourth with one out. Saldarriaga then scored when Ferrer came through with an RBI bunt single. Ehrlich then delivered a timely knock that would give the Bolts a 5-2 lead.
Gabriel then came up big for the Bolts on both the mound and at the plate. He gave up only one unearned run when Young reached base on an error and scored following an RBI single from Conrad in the fourth, although after that, he shut down the Hornets offense, only allowing two base runners the rest of the game.
Hornets’ Austin Vakiener also went all seven innings in the game, allowing three earned runs on 10 hits with a walk and four strikeouts. The two starting pitchers dueled for the entirety of the game, ending in a 5-3 victory for the Ridge Community Bolts.
