Longhorns edge St. Cloud, 6-5 in regional quarterfinal for third win of the season over their rivals
Of late, April features two inevitables: taxes are due, and Harmony plays into the regional baseball semifinals.
For the third year in a row, the Longhorns won their opening Class 7A playoff game thanks to a five-run third inning that held up Friday in beating arch-rival St. Cloud, 6-5.
Meanwhile, in Lake Worth, Park Vista got two runs in the six to break up a scoreless deadlock, and the hosts made them hold in in a 2-0 win in another Region 7A-3 quarterfinal. The Tigers ended their season at 12-9.
The win, Harmony’s seventh in their last 10 games, pushes the Longhorns to 15-10 on the season and sends them to a best-of-three regional semifinal with region top-seed Vero Beach (20-4) on Friday at 7 p.m. and next Saturday at 1 p.m. Should the teams split, a final game would be played as part of a doubleheader.
Friday’s win was Harmony’s third over St. Cloud (18-6) this year — in the OBC title and district titles games and the regional playoffs. The Bulldogs won a 3-2 regular-season game on March 6.
“Once the playoffs start, nothing is easy and next week will be no exception,” Longhorns coach Heath Williams said. “They (Vero) are very solid team, with a really good pitching staff. Under the new format, the top seed hosts all three games, so we have our work cut out for us.”
Friday’s win against the feisty Bulldogs was nerve-racking for all involved. Trailing 1-0, the Longhorns sent nine men to plate in the third inning to take control. Shawn Brabant led off with a walk, Jose Scrofani delivered a sharp single to center and Jayden Perez loaded the bases with a perfect bunt down the third base line. Jadiel Perez then delivered a two-run single, then Angel Medina cleared the bases with a triple, and he later scored on Sebastian Thames’ RBI single.
The Longhorns tacked another run in the fourth when Perez tripled down the right field line and scored when the relay throw went into the Harmony dugout.
Down 6-2 in the sixth, St. Cloud nearly pulled even. With two outs and the bases empty, the Bulldogs scored three times on a walk and three consecutive singles to make it a one-run game. But Harmony relief pitcher Raul Romay ended the threat with a runner on second with a strikeout.
That final out was indicative of how the whole game went for St. Cloud. The Bulldogs had runners at second and third or the bases loaded in the third, fourth, and fifth innings but scored just one run and left eight men on base.
“Tonight was a gut-check for our team.” Williams added. “One thing I noticed about these guys and when things are going our way, they stay focused and they never panic. There was plenty of opportunity for both tonight and we simply did what we had to do to win.”
Still, it was a disappointing ending for the Bulldogs.
“We certainly had our chances to win,” St. Cloud coach David Blackmore said. “It seemed all night long, we had opportunities to put crooked numbers on the board with just one more hit. Earlier in the season we were getting those two-out hits but not tonight.”
Still. Harmony and its faithful had to hold its collective breath. With one out in the top of the seventh, Gage Rutledge sent a deep fly ball to the right-centerfield gap that was caught on the warning track, just missing a game-tying home run. Genara Santana was hit by a pitch with a 0-2 count to put the tying run on base, but Romay struck out Alden Lewis to end the game.
St. Cloud started the season with 13 straight wins.
“It’s not how we wanted to end the season, but I am really proud of these guys,” Blackmore said. “I feel bad for the seniors, but this was a really young team that lost a ton of senior starters and put together a really good year. We certainly have something to build off from here.”
