High school roundup (March 14-18): Saint Stephen's boys lacrosse falls to Verot

doug fernandes and dennis maffezzoli, sarasota herald-tribune

Thu, Mar 16, 2023, 11:53 PM·7 min read

THURSDAY

BOYS LACROSSE

Bishop Verot 14, Saint Stephen's 8

AT: Bishop Verot

TOP PLAYERS: SS, Matt Vara 4 goals, 1 assist, 5 ground balls; Justin Millican 1 goal, 3 assists, 6 ground balls; Joey Droge 2 goals, 2 ground balls; Will DePrenger 1 goal, 1 ground ball; Nicholas Pagnotta 10 saves

RECORDS: Saint Stephen's 6-1, Bishop Verot 9-1

NEXT: Saint Stephen's hosts Admiral Farragut, Monday, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

BASEBALL

Venice 6, Palmetto 3

AT: Venice

TOP PLAYERS: V, Nick Dunn 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Hunter Possehl 3-4, run, RBI; Jake Embury 1-3, RBI; Brady Schumaker 2-2, 2 runs; Kyle Bechtold 1-2, run; Jackson Lucas (WP) 4 IP, 3 runs-0 earned, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts. P, Andrew Spahn 3-3, 2 RBI; Baden Wallace (LP) 2 IP, 7 hits, 5 runs-5 earned, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts

RECORD: Venice 6-4, Palmetto 2-6

NEXT: Venice hosts Riverview, Friday, 7 p.m.; Palmetto at Lennard, Tuesday, 7 p.m.

GIRLS LACROSSE

Community School of Naples 19, Riverview 12

AT: Community School of Naples

TOP PLAYERS: R, Susan Lowther 5 goals, 3 assists, 3 draw controls, 2 ground balls; Caroline Steinwachs 5 goals, 11 draw controls, 1 ground ball; Chloe Hackl 2 goals, 2 draw controls; Mia Rey 11 saves

RECORD: Riverview 7-5

NEXT: Riverview at Cardinal Mooney, Monday, 6 p.m.

Saint Stephen's 16, Out-of-Door Academy 2

AT: Out-of-Door Academy

TOP PLAYERS: SS, Sienna Cassella 4 goals, 2 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers, 11-of-13 on draws; Haley Rosa 5 goals, 2 ground balls, 4 draw controls; Bella Rosa 4 goals, 1 assist, 1 draw control; Ashling Marshall 3 goals, 1 assist, 4 ground balls, 7 draw controls

RECORDS: Saint Stephen's 8-0, Out-of-Door Academy 1-8

NEXT: Saint Stephen's at Academy of the Holy Names, Tuesday, 5 p.m.; Out-of-Door Academy at Gulf Coast, Thursday, 6:30 p.m.

TUESDAY

GIRLS LACROSSE

Saint Stephen's 14, Bishop Verot 2

AT: Saint Stephen's

TOP PLAYERS: SS, Sienna Cassella 4 goals, 2 assists, 2 ground balls, 5 draw controls; Haley Rosa 3 goals, 5 ground balls; Ashling Marshall 3 goals, 5 ground balls, 7 draw controls

RECORD: Saint Stephen's 7-0

NEXT: Saint Stephen's at Out-of-Door Academy, Wednesday, 5 p.m.

Riverview 15, Berkeley Prep 8

AT: Berkeley Prep

TOP PLAYERS: R, Susan Lowther 8 goals, 4 assists, 1 draw control, 1 ground ball; Chloe Hackl 5 goals, 3 draw controls, 3 ground balls; Caroline Steinwachs 1 goal, 8 draw controls, 1 ground ball; Alexandra Hernandez 1 goal, 1 ground ball; Mia Rey 5 saves

RECORD: Riverview 7-4

NEXT: Riverview at Community School of Naples, Wednesday, 5:30 p.m.

BOYS LACROSSE

Saint Stephen's 17, Tampa Catholic 0

AT: Tampa Catholic

TOP PLAYERS: SS, Justin Millican 3 goals, 6 assists, 9 ground balls; Matt Vara 4 goals, 3 assists, 5 ground balls; Joey Droge 5 goals, 1 assist, 2 ground balls; Evan Christianson 2 goals, 1 ground ball; Cayden Smith 2 goals; Cole Ryskamp 1 goal, 1 assist; Nick Pagnotta 3 saves

RECORD: Saint Stephen's 6-0

NEXT: Saint Stephen's at Bishop Verot, Thursday, 6 p.m.

BASEBALL

Cardinal Mooney 7, Venice 6

AT: Venice

TOP PLAYERS: CM, Johnny Antonucci 1-4, 2 runs, RBI; Aiden Shea 1-3, 2B, run, RBI; Joey Seifert 2-3, 2 runs, RBI; Cade Norman (WP) 2 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 walk; V, Nick Dunn 3-3, 2 2B, 2 runs, RBI; Hunter Possehl 3-3, run, RBI; Trent Adrian 1-3, 3 RBI; Carter Cox 1-2, 2 runs; Simon Yochum (LP) 1.2 IP, 2 hits, 2 runs-0 earned, 2 strikeouts

RECORDS: Cardinal Mooney 2-7, Venice 5-4

NEXT: Cardinal Mooney at Out-of-Door Academy, Friday, 7 p.m.; Venice hosts Palmetto, Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Silo, OK 18, Bradenton Christian 4

AT: Bradenton Christian

TOP PLAYERS: BC, Alex Heintz 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI

RECORD: Bradenton Christian 3-5

NEXT: Bradenton Christian at Southeast, Monday, 6 p.m.

MONDAY

Out-of-Door 9, Palmetto 0

PALMETTO − The Out-of-Door Academy baseball team not only took advantage of its opportunities, but it also jumped on chances when Palmetto presented them.

“My main focus for the guys today was to put the ball in play and play good defense,” Thunder coach Mike Matthews said. “We did that early.”

Out-of-Door scored nine runs in the first four innings and rolled to a 9-0 whitewash of the Tigers on Monday evening at Mike Van Serke Field.

In snapping a two-game losing streak, the Thunder (5-2) scored two in the first inning, one in each the second and third and five in the fourth.

Brandon Beasley did what a good cleanup hitter does. The junior knocked in four runs with a ground out in the first inning, a double in the second and a two-run single in the fourth.

“He’s been doing a tremendous job,” Matthews said of Beasley. “He has made big strides since last year. He’s always had really good hand speed, but he’s doing a tremendous job of putting the ball in play and making contact. That’s what he did tonight.”

Thunder No. 9 hitter Ryan Mohrmann hit a sacrifice fly and run-scoring single to plate a pair of runs. Jack Dobson went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and reached base all four times. Charlie Tack had two hits in three trips with a run scored and a run batted in.

“We were able to take control of the game and Carter did a good job of making the pitches when he had to when they had guys on base,” Matthews said.

Carter Malartsik started on the mound for Out-of-Door and went the first four innings. The sophomore scattered five hits and struck out two without walking a hitter.

“He’s got four pitches. He can throw them all for strikes,” Matthews said. “It’s a great benefit for him as a young pitcher. It’s a pretty impressive thing.”

Sophomore Ben Garcia, junior left-hander Chase Taraska and freshman Heath DeRusso all worked a scoreless inning of relief in the first of three games for the Thunder this week.

“Essentially, we got to save Carter and save some pitching for later in the week,” said Matthews, whose team has home games against Foundation Academy on Tuesday and Cardinal Mooney on Friday.

“It was a good showing. It’s what we had to do.”

For the Tigers, it was the same problem that has ailed them in the past: leaving runners in scoring position. Palmetto stranded seven runners, five at either second or third base.

“Something’s got to change,” Tigers coach Nolan Lofgren said. “We talked about guys believing in themselves. Now somebody has to step up and do it.”

Seeing its losing streak reach three games, Palmetto (2-5) did some good things, especially defensively. Starter Hunter Sisk picked a runner off first and catcher Tyler Goforth threw out a runner attempting to steal in the same inning. The Tigers also turned a 6-4-3 double play.

But errors, inconsistent middle relief pitching fueled by wild pitches and hit batsmen, along with the lack of clutch hitting doomed the home team.

“We’ve got to make a lot of changes if we are going to be competitive the rest of the season,” said Lofgren, who got 3.1 innings of solid relief pitching from Aidan Collins.

The road does not get easier for the Tigers, who visit Venice on Wednesday.

− Dennis Maffezzoli

Sarasota 4, Orlando Freedom 3

AT: Orlando

TOP PLAYERS: S, Luke Jackson 2-4, HR, 2B; Juan Perez 2-3; Tanner Crump 6 IP, 2 hits, 7 strikeouts; Michael Bendever (W) 2 IP, 1 hit, 3 strikeouts

RECORD: Sarasota 6-1

NEXT: Sarasota at Lake Mary, Tuesday, 6 p.m.

Bradenton Christian 3, Saint Stephen's 0

AT: Bradenton Christian

TOP PLAYERS: BC, Landon Henderson 2 hits, Alex Heintz RBI; Alex Heintz (WP) 7 IP, 14 strikeouts; SS, Ry Jesser 1 hit, Gabriel Coon 1 hit, Luke Donley (LP) 6 IP, 8 strikeouts

RECORDS: Bradenton Christian 3-4, Saint Stephen's 1-3

NEXT: Bradenton Christian hosts SIlo, OK, Tuesday, 7 p.m.; Saint Stephen's at St. Petersburg Catholic, Friday, 7 p.m.

SOFTBALL

Sarasota 5, North Fort Myers 0

AT: Sarasota

TOP PLAYERS: S, Addisyn Schwied 2-3, run; Abbey Johns 1-2, run, 2 RBI; Ryleigh Bennett 1-3, 2 RBI; Ryleigh Bennett (WP) 7 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts