ONE STEP SHORT: 3 takeaways from Bartram Trail's 6-3 playoff baseball loss to Hagerty

ST. JOHNS — Bartram Trail's baseball desperately sought a different ending to its story in 2022 compared to the year before.

As far back as last fall, head coach Ryan Fitzpatrick motivated his players each day by showing them a picture of Spruce Creek celebrating their first-round victory on the Bears' home field.

Bartram survived a tight regional quarterfinal affair with Oviedo, and eased past Apopka with power and dominant pitching from Ashton Pocol. Tuesday night, however, the Bears had to watch another team dash toward the pitcher's mound, shaking water and tossing gloves into the air.

Garrett Baumann, Hagerty's 6-foot-8 right-hander, established control early by retiring the first 11 hitters he faced, and the Huskies plated four runs in a pivotal third inning to defeat the host Bears 6-3 in the Region 1-7A championship game.

"I was really relieved, to be honest. Four runs on this team, who smacks the ball, it felt pretty good," Baumann said. "I always knew my defense had my back, and I really just let them work.

"The last out, I was shaking, getting a little nervous, some goosebumps."

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With its seventh consecutive win, Hagerty (17-11) booked a trip to Fort Myers, where it will face Stoneman Douglas at 4 p.m. Friday. Bartram Trail ends its season with a 21-9 record, denied of just its second Final Four appearance — the last coming in 2015.

"It's a little different feeling; it still hurts," Fitzpatrick said. "It might hurt more, just because we know we were so close and it's a great group of guys."

Here are three takeaways from Bartram Trail's heartbreaking defeat, one in which it sent the tying run to the dish in the seventh inning.

Bears blink first, fall way behind

Hunter Pankey matched Baumann with zeroes on the scoreboard through the first two frames. The senior right-hander, committed to the College of Central Florida, struck out a pair while scattering two singles.

Hagerty broke through in a big way in the third as the top of its order delivered.

Austin Desoto walked with one out, and Cameron King doubled for his second hit of the evening to set the table. The Bears elected to intentionally walk leading hitter Luis Rivero in hopes of inducing a double play ball with catcher Schyler Arroyo due up.

Arroyo, a Bethune-Cookman commit, instead lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home the game's first run. Fitzpatrick made a pitching change after Pankey hit Dylan Post and fell behind 2-0 in the count to Austin Jacobs, turning to senior Brayden Gilson to prevent further damage.

"I was around the zone all game, but didn't really have my best stuff," Pankey said. "It was just one of those days."

Jacobs cracked an RBI single to center, and Daniel Beldowicz stoked a two-run single to left as the Huskies jumped out to a 4-0 lead with a two-out rally.

"We let them have the big inning, and we really haven't done that all year," Fitzpatrick said. "Very uncharacteristic of us. You've got to give them credit for putting good swings on the ball and putting pressure on us. We just weren't sharp from the get-go."

'They battled all year'

Hagerty breathed a huge sigh of relief in the fifth after the Bears loaded the bases with two down when Baumann forced Kolt Myers to fly out to center.

But the Bears kept on coming in the final two innings.

Noah Wood legged out a two-out infield single in the sixth to bring a pair of runners home. Hagerty responded with somewhat controversial run in the top of the seventh, executing a double steal with runners on the corners. The ball beat Hagerty's runner to the plate, but the umpire said catcher Anthony Saleeba did not apply the tag.

Saleeba started the home half of the seventh in style, smacking a double down the left field line.

"I think our fight was great," Saleeba said. "We didn't give up and fought to the last pitch."

Justin Nadeau followed suit with a single, and Myers brought home a run with a sac fly to center. Brody DeLamielleure reached base on an error with two down to keep the Bears alive, sending freshman Jacob Kendall to the plate as the tying run.

Baumann, a UCF commit, dug deep and struck Kendall out on three pitches.

"They battled all year, and I expect nothing less than that," Fitzpatrick said. "That's what we do. We competed. I knew we weren't going to quit; we just didn't get the hit when we needed it."

Can they make another run in 2023?

Bartram Trail will lose a number of key players — notably top two pitchers Ashton Pocol and Pankey, shortstop Alex Lodise and slugging infielder Justin Nadeau. However, there is a good foundation in place for the Bears to have another shot next spring.

South Florida commit Myers shined at the dish in the postseason, driving in the winning run against Oviedo and hammering a solo homer versus Apopka. DeLamielleure, a Notre Dame commit, batted a team-high .416 and made just one error on 45 chances in center field.

Florida State commit Schuyler Sandford flashed some of his potential Tuesday, striking out five Huskies over the final 4⅓ innings. The 6-foot-4, 185-pound right-hander allowed one hit, five walks and two earned runs.

Saleeba and Kendall were fixtures in the lineup for an impressive stretch run, meaning the meat of the order could effectively be in place already.

This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: High school baseball: 3 takeaways as Bartram Trail loses to Hagerty