Around the Diamond: Inclimate weather sets up exciting late-season series - Plant City Observer

Due to a cancelled matchup, Durant and Plant City will now play back-to-back games later in the year.

Plant City and Durant were scheduled to meet for the first time this season last Thursday, with both teams currently sitting atop the district standings with Plant City at 3-1 and Durant at 2-1 in league play on the year.

It was initially good timing for the matchup as sophomore right-hander Blaine Rowland returned from injury, gearing back up into shape with his first inning of work against Riverview on April 4, but thunderstorms rolling through the area and cancelled the contest. It may have served as a slight disappointment for those that were looking forward to the local rivalry matchup, but to make things even more exciting, the game was rescheduled for April 20 and sets up a two-game series on back-to-back days with their second meeting scheduled for April 21.

Earlier this week, Durant headed to Riverview for their second matchup of the year where the Cougars got hot early and rode their strong offensive showing to a 10-5 victory.

After jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the first, Riverview punched right back with three quick runs in the bottom of the frame before Durant could secure an out. Rowland came out of the bullpen in relief and was able to throw two scoreless innings to settle the Sharks’ bats down.

Durant added two more runs in the second on a home run from Dylan LaPointe — his team-leading fourth of the season — to give the Cougars some breathing room and a 6-3 lead before cruising the rest of the way to a big district win.

Durant will return to action at home against Newsome on Thursday night in another district contest. The Cougars beat the Wolves 5-2 in their first meeting of the year on March 31.

Plant City returned this week to host East Bay for their senior night on Tuesday, falling in disappointing fashion by a 7-3 final.

Seniors Logan Scott, Jackson VanDerZee and Jace Stines each notched a run batted in for the Raiders on Tuesday and Plant City allowed just two runs to come across for East Bay after the first inning, but a strong outing from their bullpen arms weren’t enough to overcome the early 5-0 deficit.

Plant City will look to bounce back in a big way on Thursday as they host a tough 17-3 Sickles team.

Strawberry Crest was able to avoid the poor weather last week and play their game against Sickles as scheduled on Friday, falling 6-0 in just their second game of the season in which they failed to score a run.

But Crest wasn’t down for long, kicking off a three-game week against Tampa Bay Tech on Monday and coming away with a resounding 13-1 win.

Senior Zach Vincent got the start for the Chargers, allowing just three hits and one unearned run over 4.2 innings before junior Cooper McDonald closed the door with just one hit surrendered over his 1.1-inning appearance. Offensively, junior Zach Redner led the charge with two hits, four runs batted in and his first home run of the season. Damien Bennett had three RBIs and Alex Philpott drove in two of his own as six different Charger hitters tallied RBIS in on the night.

Tuesday’s contest against Robinson didn’t come nearly as easy, however, going to extra innings before the Chargers eventually escaped with a 3-2 victory in the nine-inning affair.

Lance Highsmith opened the scoring in the second with an RBI single up the middle to give Crest a 1-0 lead and in the second, after Ethan Pues roped a double down the left field line and swiped third, he came around for the Chargers’ second run as he was driven home by junior infielder Ray Allen Vasquez.

Luke Richardson took a strong outing into the sixth inning before Philpott entered the game in relief, taking over with one out and two runners on. Robinson was able to take advantage of some passed balls to knot the game up at 2-2 but after escaping the sixth, Philpott would throw three scoreless innings before Crest was able to walk it off with a line drive down the first base line from Redner, driving in the game-winning run and pushing the Chargers to 13-6 on the year.

Strawberry Crest will take on 15-4 Plant for the second time this season on Thursday, previously falling 6-1 to the Panthers in the Saladino Tournament semifinal over Spring Break.