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Youth baseball: South 10-11s top Greater Naples at section tournament
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Friday’s Section 6 matchup between heavy-hitting 10- and 11-year-old all-star teams at Golden Gate Community Park turned out to be a pitchers’ duel, and South Fort Myers had more firepower than Greater Naples.
The first game of the 10-11 sectional paired the two local teams that combined to score 35 runs in winning the last games of their respective districts. But that was almost two weeks ago, and each team needed a few innings to get warmed up Friday.
South Fort Myers struck first and last, though, using a two-run third inning to take the lead and never relinquishing it in a 3-1 victory. South is 1-0 in the four-team district, and will play twice more today. The team with the best record in the round-robin sectional moves on to the state finals next weekend.
“We knew we had to play a championship-style type of game to get through this one,” South coach Brian Smith said. “I was going at this one like it could be the biggest game of the weekend. Not like I’m ever looking past anyone, but this was the one we needed to win.”
The South 10-11s won the sectional last year and breezed through the District 9 tourney this summer, going 7-0 including a 22-2 victory in the team’s last time on the diamond. That win, however, was back on July 3.
South’s offense wasn’t nearly as prolific Friday, scoring three runs on six hits. The team’s pitching, however, was effective as usual. South limited Greater Naples to five hits and the one run.
The last time Greater Naples played, it fell behind 10-0 before pounding out 13 runs in three innings to win the District 27 title on July 9. Against South, the all-stars had one hit in the first three innings.
“Our offense could have been rusty. When you lay off nine days, that does happen,” Greater Naples manager Jimmy Nocera said. “But give (South) credit. Their pitcher threw a lot of strikes, and their defense was outstanding.”
Keith Smith started for South and pitched 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball before reaching the league’s maximum pitch count of 75. He allowed four hits and struck out six.
Reliever Christian Hammond entered in the fifth inning and picked up where Smith left off. Despite giving up a single to the first batter he faced, Hammond retired four straight, including striking out the side in the sixth, to end the game.
Hammond, 11, also had a solo home run to left-center field in the fifth inning. He scored two of South’s three runs.
“I didn’t think I was going to hit (the ball), then I saw it go out,” Hammond said of his homer. The win “puts us in a good spot. If we win two (games) we might win, but if we win three we definitely win.”
Bryson Smith started for Greater Naples and gave up three runs despite allowing just three hits. Sage Nocera entered the game in the fifth and has not allowed a run this postseason. Nocera also went 2-for-3 with a double at the plate.
While the local pitchers battled, on the next field over, Sarasota Florida and Lehigh put up plenty of runs. Sarasota won a 15-9 decision in a game that lasted nearly three hours.
The sectional picks up today with a pair of games at 10 a.m. and two more at 1 p.m.
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