Cougars Drop District Final 8-2 to Sarasota

The Cougars were the visiting team at their own ballpark, a bit of an anomaly, but Sarasota was the no. 1 district seed.

Countryside used up its 1-2 starting rotation of left-handers  and  getting to the district final. The third pitcher, Chris Frey has had elbow problems and also was unavailable. So, coach Kemo O’Sullivan started junior Eric Russel.

It looked like a bad idea at the start of the game and by the end Friday the Sarasota Sailors clinched the district title beating Countryside 8-2.

Russel gave up some runs early, but settled in and pitched well until the late innings where he was left in some tough spots to battle through.

"It was totally my fault. I should not have left him in there," O'Sullivan said. "We’d been concentrating on fighting through situations like that but I just pushed it too far."

Countryside got one run in the top of the first from a Kiefer Sullivan hit, which wasn’t so much of a hit as it was a flat out dash for first base which beat Sarasota shortstop Keith Curcio’s throw.

The Sailor hitters put the pressure on Russel starting in the bottom of the first inning.

Russel hit the first batter Curcio with a pitch. Then Curcio stole second. Brandon Harper lined out to center and Sean Hurley was walked. Sophomore Dylan White then singled to centerfield, driving in Curcio.

Then, junior Danny Mars laced one down the first base line for an RBI double. Two batters later, junior Brian Pietranton lined one to center driving in two more runs.

It was 4-1 Sarasota by the second inning.

Russel settled down and pitched well the next few innings. Mixing his pitches and spotting it well. The score would hold until the fifth inning.

“Eric found his off-speed pitches and his curve kept them off balance," O'Sullivan said. "You can’t throw fastballs to a team like that."

Sarasota Coach Clyde Metcalf echoed the sentiment.

“In those middle innings, he threw good off-speed pitches.”

Even Russel himself knew what was going on.

“I was leaving the ball up in that first inning, once I brought it down, I was much better.”

The Sailor pitching was rock solid. Sophomore Dylan White went five innings only giving up two runs and three hits. Hurley came in relief in the fifth inning and closed out the game.

The Cougars got one run back in the top of the fifth off of a bases-loaded infield hit from senior Brad Dunham to close the score with two runs, but the wheels came off in the bottom of the sixth.

Russel was hanging tough, getting senior Shane Ahles to strike out followed by senior Joe Miller. Russel walked the next two batters.

O’Sullivan came out to the mound to make a switch, only he just had a conference with Russel and left him in there.

Hurley came up and crushed one over the right field wall for a three-run homer. Dylan White came up and smoked one over the right field wall, too. This put the game out of reach for Countryside.

“We could see the fatigue setting in," Metcalf said. "When you walk a couple guys with two outs, that’s a sure sign."