Pirates capitalize on Mustangs errors

BRADEN RIVER — You didn’t need a scorecard to tell which team was going through growing pains. All anyone had to do was watch one inning.

A young Lakewood Ranch team, which starts five sophomores and a freshman, imploded in the sixth inning and handed host Braden River a 5-3 win Saturday.

Braden River (7-3) trailed 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth when it scored two runs without getting the ball out of the infield courtesy of a Lakewood Ranch defense that has struggled through what has become a 1-8 season.

“We’ve got a lot of young kids prematurely playing varsity, but it is what it is, and we’ve got to deal with it,” Lakewood Ranch head coach Mike Mullen said. “Defense has been an issue for us all season. We had some youth in the middle of the infield, and everything went wrong.”

Cary Panichello led off the Braden River sixth with an infield single, and after stealing second, Garrett Russini walked to put runners on first and second. Ryan Fischer bunted, and Lakewood Ranch threw the ball away past third, allowing two runners to score. The final run of the inning came on an RBI double by Dalton Busby.

“That was a bunt defense we were in, and we failed to execute. The whole timing of the play was messed up,” Mullen said. “Defensively we’ve had a huge letdown and have not been able to field routine ground balls. Our pitchers have pitched well.”

The defensive lapse spoiled a good day for Ranch starter Dylan Horn. He had the Braden River hitters off balance for most of the game using his breaking ball and off-speed pitches. The lefty finished with seven strikeouts before leaving in the sixth.

“We didn’t get out of the gate so well, and their guy threw very well. It took us a while to get some runners on base and be able to do stuff with it,” Braden River head coach Ryan Hilton said. “Our guys got the bunts down in the right situations. We always say if we do our job, it’s their job to make the plays, and if they don’t, we’ll capitalize, and (Saturday) we did.”

Braden River used five different pitchers starting with Dakota Wilson, who went three innings and gave up two runs and three hits. Austin Platt threw the sixth and retired the side in order to pick up the win, and Marc Monroe went the seventh to get the save.

Braden River and Lakewood Ranch are in the same district, but the game did not count toward the district standings. They will meet again in a district game March 23 at Lakewood Ranch.

Lakewood Ranch scored two runs in the third on a two-run single by Shane Davidson and got the other run on a single by Horn in the fourth. For Braden River, Busby drove in two runs while Ryan Fischer and Nick Watson each had an RBI.