Time is right for aces in baseball playoffs

Timber Creek News > 2015

5/6/2015

Time is right for aces in baseball playoffs

Buddy Collings, ORLANDO SENTINELbcollings@tribune.com

Timing is everything and time now favors Orange City University in its unlikely quest to reach the Class 8A baseball final four.

The bridesmaid Titans, who had an 11-12 record late in the regular season, have ridden red-hot sophomore pitcher Logan Allen and tight defense through two region playoff shutouts and now get a full week before they play again.

SENTINEL VARSITY

That means Frank Martello, a veteran coach in charge of one of Central Florida's youngest programs, can again hand the ball to Allen, his crafty young lefty, when University (16-13) hosts nationally-ranked Olympia (27-1-1) in a Class 8A region final game next Tuesday.

Allen has thrown three complete-game postseason gems in a span of 16 days, the latest being a masterful 1-0 region semifinal shutout of state-ranked Hagerty.

Those were the same Huskies who run-ruled University 12-2 in the district final round.

Olympia, which was undefeated in the regular season, has six senior pitchers bound for college baseball. But the new Florida High School Athletic Association playoff format, revised this year, makes a deep rotation much less of a factor for four of the eight classifications.

Instead of getting two days between region semifinals and finals, teams in the 8A, 7A, 4A and 3A brackets get six days of rest for pitchers before they play again.

"It helps if you have that one really good guy to roll out there, and it's kind of a negative if you've got more than one," said Olympia coach Chuck Schall. "But we're all on the same schedule. We've just got to go out and beat a good arm. We know that."

Teams that win the 8A and 7A regions will get another eight days of rest for ace pitchers before they play state semifinal games on Wednesday, May 20, at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers.

Olympia has two No. 1s with UF signee Michael Byrne and Juan Hillman, who is 10-0 after three-hitting Boone on Tuesday.

Hillman, a likely high Major League draft pick, owns a 1.12 ERA with 80 strikeouts in 62 innings.

Byrne is 7-1 with an 0.82 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 68 innings.

"We're not sure who will start (against University)," Schall said. "Our two big guns will be ready to go."

Allen is 10-2 with a microscopic 0.62 ERA and 100 strikeouts in 67.2 innings. He was sidelined by illness for several weeks near midseason but came back strong.

"With Logan, we always have a chance," Martello said. "He's very mature. He does not get rattled. And he competes every time."

University wasn't anywhere near the state championship conversation when its No. 2 pitcher, Dylan Stevens, suffered a season-ending broken thumb a month ago. The Titans were 11-12 late in the regular season and entered the 8A, District 2 tournament as the No. 8 seed out of eight teams.

Allen, who was brought back slowly after getting doctor's clearance to return, got his comeback start in a District 2 quarterfinal against top seed Lake Brantley and beat the Patriots 10-1 with a three-hitter. He blanked Flagler Palm Coast 6-0 in a region quarterfinal and then struck out 11 vs. Hagerty on Tuesday.

Timber Creek (18-10), just like Olympia and University, bounced back from a district final defeat to reach the 8A Sweet 16. The Wolves will play at Sarasota Riverview (15-14) in Tuesday's Region 2 final and have a solid pitching tandem with senior lefthander Andrew Perez and junior southpaw Michael D'Emo.

In 71 1/3 innings, Perez has 107 strikeouts, a new school record. D’Emo has 72 strikeouts in 63 innings.

"We've got two aces," said Timber Creek coach Tim Beaman. "Two is a great number."

They combined to beat Port St. Lucie Treasure Coast 2-1 in nine innings last week and Perez pitched a complete game with nine strikeouts in Tuesday's 3-0 win over district rival Orlando University.

"Pitchers dominate at the high school level and you're seeing everybody's ace at this point," Beaman said. "This is why you're seeing these low scores."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/highschool/os-hs-varsity-insider-buddy-collings-0507-20150506-column.html