EAST MANATEE -- Dylan Lee felt a void in his life.
The Braden River High junior had never beaten arch-rival Lakewood Ranch in either baseball or football, and it was starting to eat at him.
He got his chance to end that skid Tuesday night and came through with three RBIs, including a two-run double, to help propel the host Pirates to a 10-6 triumph over previously undefeated Lakewood Ranch, which won its first two games of the season.
“It feels good,” said Lee, who has been the Pirates’ (2-1) most consistent hitter so far this season. “I try to be patient and wait back and see the ball as long as I can and drive it. The main thing is waiting to get the pitch that you want.”
Lee had two hits and spearheaded a Braden River attack that pounded out 10. Eric Schappacher had a three-run double to spark a four-run fifth inning that gave the Pirates an 8-2 lead heading into the top of the sixth.
Ryan Fischer and Myles Straw had two hits apiece, and Kevin Dillingham had two RBIs to help the Pirates. Braden River jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on a two-run single by Dillingham and never trailed in the non-district game.
Making his first start of the season, lefty Josh Brabson picked up the win. He went five innings, allowing two runs, six hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
“Our pitching was outstanding. Brabson went deep into the game and held them pretty good,” Braden River head coach Mike Verrill said. “Defensively, we were pretty good, until the last inning when we had two errors, and our offense was real good. We’ve been hitting the ball well, particularly Dillingham and Schappacher and Ryan Fischer and Lee.”
Lakewood Ranch gave Dominic Leone his first start, and he did well enough to satisfy Mustangs head coach Mike Mullen, going three innings without giving up an earned run.
Brad Zunica had two hits and an RBI, Bryan VanVranken had a two-run double, and Brandon King had two hits to spark the Mustangs.
“Braden River was better than us tonight. We are trying to keep our starters from pitching six or seven innings this time of year,” Mullen said. “We are piecing some innings together with different people. Dominic pitched well. We are in February and we didn’t want him going more than three innings. I got to think about keeping kids fresh and keeping pitch counts down.
“It irritates me to lose to Braden River or lose any game. You show me a good loser and I will show you a loser, that’s what Vince Lombardi said. We play Braden River again and will probably give them a different look.”
