OXFORD, Ala. – In a contest that featured 22 runs and 30 hits, the Lee baseball team came up on the short end of the score in a 13-9 loss to Valdosta State in the winner's bracket finals of the Gulf South Conference Championship on Sunday afternoon at Choccolocco Park. The defeat sends the Flames (28-24) into the loser's bracket where they will face West Florida on Monday at 12 noon (EDT).
The high-scoring contest rocked back and forth through the first four innings. The Blazers jumped on top 5-1 after 2.5 innings, but the Flames responded with six big runs in the bottom of the third to take a 7-5 advantage. However, that was not enough as Valdosta put four runs on the board in the fourth and two more runs in the sixth to take an 11-7 lead and never trailed again. Lee fought back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth to trim the lead to 11-9. The Blazers added a pair of insurance runs in the ninth to help secure the victory in the wild contest.
?"We got behind early and had to expend a lot of pitching trying to keep the Valdosta offense down," said Coach Mark Brew. "Sean (Casteel) and Jax (Howard) were effective and gave us a chance to claw back in it. Our offense continues to give us a shot and we will need to continue to find ways to score runs against a good West Florida team while continuing to get guys to put up some zeros on the scoreboard. Our guys are going to fight."
The Flames used six pitchers in the battle and the Blazers sent five to the hill. Tim Gooden, the third of the six Lee pitchers, was charged with the loss although he only pitched 0.1 inning. Frankie Volkers started and worked 2.1 innings. Sean Casteel came on for 2.2 frames and allowed four hits and two earned runs. Jax Howard had a solid performance in 2.2 innings. The big right-hander struck out five batters but walked three and allowed two earned runs. Brandon Raiden was the third Blazer pitcher and was credited with the victory. Zane Stephens worked the final two innings and picked up the save.
Dylan Standifer and Brandon Daniels led Lee's 16-hit attack with three hits apiece. Daniels had a homerun, a double and a single while driving in two runs. Standifer had a pair of doubles, two RBI and scored once. Cam Suto also had two doubles, two runs batted in and scored two runs. Riley Black continued his fine hitting with a homer and a single. He also drove home two runs. Isaac Quinones, Luke Hughes and Nate Bynum produced two hits each. Bynum scored twice and Hughes once.
Hunter Stove had three hits, three RBI and three runs scored for Valdosta State. JP Gates had a key three-run homer. Jovanni Canegitta and Jacob Harper had doubles and singles while Harper drove in two runs. David Crawford was hit by two pitches, drew a walk and scored three times. Raynel Ortiz had two hits, scored two runs and collected an RBI for the Blazers.
