ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — With a group starting that had, for the most part, been seeing playing time in junior varsity games thus far this season, got a varsity start against the same Rosemount, Minn., Irish team that the Bryant Hornets had defeated on Monday at the Tampa Bay Spring Training event. The result was a 20-1 win when the Hornets cracked 14 hits including three each by C.J. Phillips and Justin Emmerling.
Evan Lee, Austin Kelly and Logan Allen added two hits each. Kelly drove in five runs, Blake Patterson, Connor Tatum and Allen two apiece.
Patterson and Holt combined to limit the Irish to one unearned run on eight hits. Over the first five innings, Patterson fanned three without a walk. Holt finished up, giving up two hits, the lone walk of the game and struck out three.
The Hornets actually fell behind 1-0 in the second but then built a 10-1 lead through six innings. A 10-run seventh made the game a laugher.
Bryant loaded the bases in the first on singles by Phillips and Emmerling around a walk to Patterson but the Irish escaped.
Rosemount’s second included a trio of singles to produce the first run. But Patterson picked off a runner and Phillips threw out another runner trying to steal.
The Hornets’ onslaught commenced in the top of the third when Lee slapped a single to left and, with one out, stole second and scored when Patterson’s drive to left was misplayed. With Patterson at second, Emmerling drilled a double down the left-field line to put the Hornets ahead 2-1.
A passed ball allowed Emmerling to take third and he scored moments later on Kelly’s bouncer to second.
Patterson pitched around a one-out error in the bottom of the third by taking a comebacker and starting a doubleplay.
There was one out in the top of the fourth when Jake East drew a walk, stole second, took third on a passed ball and scored on Lee’s second hit, a squeeze bunt that the Hornets junior beat out.
Though Lee was caught trying to steal second, Phillips got things going again with a single. Drew Tipton, in as a courtesy runner for the catcher, took second on a wild pitch as Patterson walked. And when Emmerling was hit by a pitch, the bags were full for Kelly, who pulled a single into left to plate two and it was 6-1.
Rosemount managed a pair of hits in the bottom of the fourth but Patterson picked a runner off second then ended the threat with a strikeout.
Allen’s one-out triple revved up the offense again in the top of the fifth. A two-out walk to Lee and a hit batsman that allowed Phillips to reach went for naught, however as the Irish avoided more damage.
Patterson worked around a one-out error in the home half with the Hornets turning another twin-killing.
Bryant reached double-digits with a four-run top of the sixth. Consecutive walks to Emmerling, Kelly and Brandan Warner set the table. Connor Tatum plated a run with a sacrifice fly then Allen beat out a bunt single to drive in Kelly who had tagged and moved to third on Tatum’s fly.
When Allen stole second, an errant throw allowed Kelly to score. After East walked, Lee rolled into a force at second, picking up an RBI as Allen scored.
Emmerling relieved in the bottom of the sixth and gave up a single and a walk with one out but both runners were stranded, setting up Bryant’s 10-run eruption in the top of the seventh.
A one-out single by the senior pitcher and walks to Kelly and Warner filled the bases. Tatum’s infield hit drove in a run then Allen walked to force in another. East lined a single to right to keep the line moving and a run scored when Nick Kehrees’ grounder to short was booted.
Phillips singled, Patterson walked for an RBI and, with two down, Kelly doubled to clear the bases. After Warner and Tatum walked to fill the bases again, a passed ball allowed Kelly to score the 20th run.
Emmerling struck out the first two in the bottom of the inning, gave up a single to center then ended it by inducing a grounder to East at short for a force at second.
The win improved the Hornets to 9-2 on the season, going into a contest against ING Baseball Academy of Florida.
