Gainesville, FL - On Sunday afternoon, the Santa Fe Saints hosted the State College of Florida, Manatees. The Saints beat the Manatees on Friday, April 12th with a score of 10-9 to start off the series. Today, the Saints lost the first game 11-5 in 12 innings and won the second game with a score of 6-4.

How It Happened

Game 1

Justin Jackson started on the mound for the Saints. He pitched for just over six innings and threw for nine strikeouts. He allowed five runs and 11 hits. Marchelo Biondi followed up pitching for the Saints. He pitched for one inning, allowed zero hits and zero runs, and he threw for one strikeout. Nick Staszak finished up pitching for the Saints. The Saints pitchers had a total of 11 strikeouts. 

The leading hitters for the Saints were Javier Soto and BJ Graham. They had three hits each in game one and Javier Soto had two RBIs. Cory Filley also had two RBIs, while Grant Gallagher added one.

The starting pitcher for the Manatees was Palmer O'Beirne. He pitched for just over six innings. He allowed five hits, one run, and had five strikeouts. Jalen Hairston, Erick Almonte, and Santiago Ordonez were the leading hitters with three hits. Hairston also had two RBIs. Jayce Blalock also had two RBIs and Allan Gil-Fernandez had four RBIs.

The Saints ended the top of the first inning with an impressive out at home plate to prevent the Manatees from scoring.

In the bottom of the first inning, Javier Soto hit a single to advance to first base giving the Saints their first hit of the game. Javier Soto then made it back home off of a double from Cory Filley. The Saints were unable to bring in any more runs and ended the first inning with a score of 1-0. 

In the top of the second inning, Justin Jackson struck out the first batter at the plate for the Manatees, Luis Garrido. The Saints got out of the top of the second from a double play, getting the Manatees out at first and second base. 

BJ Graham was first to touch the plate for the Saints in the bottom of the second inning. He singled to first base. Drake Harman then hit a ground ball and made it to first base off of a fielder's choice, resulting in BJ Graham getting out at second base. Harman was thrown out trying to steal second base, putting an end to the second inning.

The top of the third inning started with a single from Mario Trivella. Erick Almonte hit a double, putting the Manatees on second and third base. Jalen Hairston then hit a single to right field, bringing in two Manatee runs and advancing the score to 2-1 with no outs on the board. Santiago Ordonez hit a single down the first base line sending Hairston to third. Jalen Hairston made it home from a double from Luis Garrido increasing the lead to 3-1. The inning ended with a strikeout from Justin Jackson. 

In the top of the fourth inning, Justin Jackson struck out the first batter he faced. Erick Almonte then hit a double towards center field. However, the half inning was quickly ended with another strikeout from Jackson. 

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Drake Harman stepped up to the plate first for the Saints. He grounded out towards first base. Griffin Sorrow stepped up after Harman at the plate. He hit a pop fly towards right field that was caught, putting the second out on the board for the Saints. Grant Gallagher then hit towards shortstop, but got out at first, ending the inning.

The top of the sixth inning started with Jayce Blalock hitting straight into the glove of AJ Barrios at third base, putting an out on the board. Luke Boykin then struck out. Mario Trivella then hit a single towards center field to put the Manatees on base. Erick Almonte was then thrown out at first base to end the half inning with no runs for the Manatees. 

To start the seventh, Jalen Hairston made it to first base off of a successful bunt. Allan Gil-Fernandez hit a home run towards left field, bringing in two Manatee runs and increasing their lead to 5-1. Santiago Ordonez was then hit by a pitch to advance to first base. Luis Garrido then struck out to add another out to the board. Jayce Blalock was walked to first, sending Ordonez to 2nd base. Luke Boykin then hit towards center and was caught, ending the top of the inning. 

In the bottom of the seventh inning, BJ Graham hit a single to right field to put the Saints on base. Landon Rogers then hit towards center and was caught for the first out of the bottom of the inning. Anthony Fimiano then came in and walked to first, sending Graham to second. Griffin Sorrow came up to the plate and also walked to load the bases for the Saints. Next up to the plate was Grant Gallagher. He also walked, bringing home BJ Graham and improving the score to 5-2. Javier Soto then hit a line drive towards the mound, bringing home two Saints runs and increasing the score to 5-4. Cory Filley then successfully bunted to bring home Grant Gallagher to tie the game 5-5. Wyatt Campbell struck out to send the game into extra innings.

In the top of the eighth inning, the Manatees got their first out from a pop fly towards center field. Erick Almonte then hit a single to advance to first base. Jalen Hairston then walked to first, sending Almonte to second with one out. Pip Smalley hit towards right field, which was caught, putting the second out on the board. AJ Barrios then caught a ball hit by Allan Gil-Fernandez to end the inning. 

BJ Graham started at the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning. He hit a foul ball that was ultimately caught to add a quick out for the Saints. Landon Rogers then stepped up to the plate and hit a single towards center. Zach Dejesus then came in and was hit by a pitch to be sent to first base. Griffin Sorrow followed after Dejesus at the plate. He struck out for the second out. Grant Gallagher then walked to first base, loading the bases for the Saints. Javier Soto was next up to bat. He hit a pop fly to right field which ended the inning and continued to send the game into another extra inning. 

In the top of the ninth, Erick Almonte hit out towards center field to put the first out on the board. Luis Garrido hit straight towards the pitcher, adding the second out for the Manatees in the top of the inning. Jayce Blalock was then walked to first. Luke Boykin then hit towards third base, which AJ Barrios impressively caught to send the game into the bottom of the inning. 

The Saints and Manatees continued to go scoreless in the 10th inning.

In the bottom of the 11th inning, Javier Soto hit a single through left field to get the Saints back into the game. Cory Filley stepped up to bat to hit a ground ball to second which was dropped, allowing Filley to advance to first base. The Saints however, were unable to come up with a run.

In the top of the 12th inning, Luke Boykin hit long into left field to reach first base. Mario Trivella bunted to get out at first base. Boykin reached second. Erick Almonte advanced to first base off of a Saints error, sending Boykin to third with no one on second. The Saints intentionally walked Jalen Hairston, loading the bases. Pip Smalley then hit an RBI single to put the Manatees up 6-5. Allan Gil-Fernandez hit a double to bring in two more runs and increase the lead 8-5 with one out. Santiago Ordonez reached first off a single and brought in another run, further increasing the score to 9-5. Jayce Blalock hit a single to right field to bring in another two runs for the Manatees to secure their lead to 11-5. 

BJ Graham made it to first base off a single to right field in the bottom of the 12th inning. Landon Rogers struck out for the first out. Zach Dejesus also struck out for the second out. Griffin Sorrow then grounded out to end the game. 

The Saints ended Game 1 with 11 hits while the Manatees had 17 hits. The final score was 11-5 Manatees.

Game 2

Macklin Miller started on the mound for the Saints in Game 2. He pitched for two innings and threw for zero strikeouts and allowed two runs and two hits. Lucas Johns followed up pitching for the Saints. He pitched for three innings, allowed four hits and zero runs, and he threw for one strikeout. Nick Davidson finished up pitching for the Saints. 

The leading hitter for the Saints was AJ Barrios. In game two he had three hits. Javier Soto and Connor Fosnow also had a notable two RBIs.

To start Game 2, Preston Wetherell started on the mound for the Manatees. He pitched for just over three innings and allowed five hits, two runs, and had four strikeouts. Walker Vanecek was the leading hitter with two hits. 

In the top of the first inning, the Saints quickly put Eric Almonte out at first base. Jalen Hairston then walked to first but was unable to make it home. The Manatees were unable to score in the first inning.

In the bottom of the first inning, AJ Barrios hit a single to reach base first for the Saints in game two. BJ Graham hit a ground ball to end the inning.

In the top of the second inning, the Manatees scored a run off of a double by Mario Trivella. Erick Almonte also hit a double to bring in another Manatee run and improve the score to 2-0. The Saints were able to put a defensive stop on the Manatees with bases loaded, preventing any more runs

In the bottom of the second inning, Drake Harman was walked to first, bringing up Anthony Fimiano. Anthony Fimiano was also walked, sending Harman to second. The Saints, however, were unable to bring anyone home.

Walker Vanecek hit a single to start the top of the third inning. The Manatees were unable to score in the top of the third.

Grant Gallagher led off for the Saints in the bottom of the third inning. He walked to first. AJ Barrios hit a double to send Gallagher to third. Gallagher made it home after tagging up on a sacrifice fly from Javier Soto to decrease the Manatees lead to 2-1. BJ Graham hit a single to first, however, AJ Barrios got out at home for the second out. Cory Filley struck out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Drake Harman hit a double that hit the fence to get the Saints' momentum back. Anthony Fimiano then hit a single sending Harman to third base with no outs in the inning. Connor Fosnow then hit a single to bring home Drake Harman and tie the game 2-2. Trey Freeman got out on a sacrifice bunt, which moved runners over to second and third base. Anthony Fimiano made it home from a wild pitch with Grant Gallagher at the plate to put the Saints in the lead 3-2. Connor Fosnow also made it home off a wild pitch with Grant Gallagher still at the plate, further increasing the Saints lead to 4-2. Grant Gallagher then walked. AJ Barrios then hit a single to right field to push Grant Gallagher to second. Gallagher and Barrios then stole second and third after another wild pitch by the Manatees' pitcher. The Saints increased the lead to 5-2 when Javier Soto hit to right field to score Gallagher. 

Walker Vanecek started off the top of the fifth inning by hitting a single down the left field line. Javier Soto made an impressive diving catch to give the Manatees their second out of the inning. The Manatees went scoreless in the top of the fifth inning due to a strong Saints defense.

Drake Harman was up first in the bottom of the fifth inning. He walked to first. Anthony Fimiano was next to bat. Drake Harman stole second. Drake Harman made it home off of a single from Connor Fosnow. The score improved to 6-2. Fosnow then stole second base with Trey Freeman at bat. Grant Gallagher was up to bat next and was then walked to first. The inning ended with a strikeout from AJ Barrios.

Jalen Hairston was walked in the top of the sixth to load the bases for the Manatees. Jayce Blalock hit towards second base, scoring in a run for the Manatees but also resulting in the first out of the inning. The Saints lead decreased to 6-3. The Manatees also scored another run after a caught ball from Allan Gil-Fernandez, further decreasing the lead to 6-4.

The Saints solidified the game with a double play in the top of the seventh inning. 

The Saints ended the game with eight recorded hits while the Manatees had six hits. The final score of game two was 6-4 Saints. 

Up Next 

On Wednesday, April 17th, the Saints will travel to Lake Sumter State College in Leesburg, FL to face the Lakehawks in a single game matchup. The first pitch will be thrown at 3:00PM EDT.