Prep baseball: Palmetto's mistakes hand Sarasota a victory

SARASOTA -- Defensive lapses cost Palmetto High as Sarasota defeated the Tigers, 6-2, in an Class 8A District 8 baseball game Friday at Ronald K. Drew Field.

Palmetto (7-6, 1-5) led 2-0 early but committed errors in four of six innings, including two in the four-run sixth posted by the Sailors (9-2, 5-1).

"We started out really well," Tigers head coach Rich Glass said. "Typically, we handle the baseball fairly well. Tonight we had five. You can't give a team like that more than three outs an inning and make routine mistakes."

Glass is in his first season at the helm of the Palmetto, which has several players either in their first year on varsity or playing every game for the first time.

"Sarasota is a powerhouse; hats off to them," the coach said. "Their guy (starting pitcher Phil Shore) was around the zone all night. We've just got to make the routine plays (on defense). If we make the routine plays, who knows?"

Palmetto used four pitchers: Hunter Finner, Harrison Thiel, Tyler Henning and Hunter Oler.

"We came in with a game plan of switching up looks every two innings," Glass said. "Roll out a new

arm; just trying to switch it up so they don't get comfortable seeing the same guy."

Finner started and gave up one hit.

Thiel, a freshman, allowed one run on two hits.

"He wasn't on tonight and that's all right," Glass said. "That's baseball."

Palmetto went up 1-0 in the top of the second inning as Jacob Josey was hit by a pitch, went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Finner and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Colton Vincent.

The Tigers' other run came in the top of the third.

Casey Rodriguez hit a single to right field, stole second and scored on a double by Brandon Lam.

However, Danny Urbina, who had walked, was thrown out at home plate, and Alden Blaney, who reached base on a fielder's choice, was caught stealing to end the threat.

Down 6-2 with two outs in the top of the seventh, the Tigers mishandled another good opportunity to score. Oler singled to center, Rodriguez singled to left and Urbina singled to right to load the bases. But Brooks Larson relieved Shore and forced Brandon Lam to hit a grounder that ended the game.

This story was originally published March 11, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Prep baseball: Palmetto's mistakes hand Sarasota a victory ."