Prep baseball | Braden River's postseason run ends in district semifinal

It was bad news and bad news Tuesday for the Braden River baseball team.

First, University of Florida commit Tyler Dyson gave up an earned run for the first time in 49.2 innings. That the end of that streak came in a season-ending loss was the remaining bad news.

Getting to the Pirates' right hander for three runs in the top of the third inning, Armwood went on to a 4-2 decision in the Class 7A-District 9 semifinal played at Tampa Tech. Braden River finishes with an 18-8 mark.

"Obviously we're really disappointed," Braden River coach Craig Page said. "We came in and knew after a win last night they (Armwood) were going to come in with a little momentum.

"We had confidence in our guys, especially with Tyler on the mound. The effort and intensity were there, but their guy threw a great game, kept us off balance and we just didn't get it done."

With the win over the top-seeded Pirates, Armwood improves to a 10-14 mark.

"I'm just proud of all the players," Hawks coach Rob Woodke said. "We've been up and down this season, but these past few games they've come out and played with heart and determination. Tonight it was absolutely perfect."

In the third, which turned out to be critical for both teams, Armwood did its damage with two out on a two-run triple from Eric Blanc. The Hawk left fielder would then score on a passed ball.

"He had a tough inning," Woodke said of Dyson. "You have to take advantage with a guy of his caliber and we were able to do that today."

"I felt good going in," Dyson said. "But I made a couple of mistakes in the third when they scored their runs. Their job is to go up, get hits and that's just what they did. That's baseball."

On the other side, Braden River started the bottom of the frame with singles from Brian Dillingham and Giarcarlo Gamboa. However, Armwood's Davis Rodriguez retired the next three to end the Pirates' threat.

"That's been the story of our year," Page said. "We play small ball, let the guys swing and early on, we had guys in scoring position. We just didn't get the runs across."

Braden River did get one run back in the fifth when Dyson helped his cause with a solo home run to right, his 17th RBI of the year.

Dyson would give up just two hits and struck out six before being relieved by Ryan Duncan for the top of the seventh.

"Tyler's been our guy all year, but was getting around 100 pitches," Page said. "No game is worth jeopardizing his future and we felt at that point we have confidence in our bullpen, especially Ryan Duncan." Armwood would add an insurance run in the top of the seventh

"We had an outstanding year and there is nothing we can say right now that is going to make it any better," Page said. "This is a great group of seniors and 18 wins is the most we've had in a long time in this program."

Elsewhere

SARASOTA BOOKER 4, BAYSHORE 3 -- The host Bruins gave up four runs in bottom of the fifth and their last six outs were strikeouts in a season-ending loss to the Tornadoes in a Class 5A-District 11 semifinal contest. Both teams had four hits in the game. Leading the offense for Bayshore (9-18) was Yiesel Ur (2 for 3, run, stolen base). Jared Richardson reached on an error, stole stole second and scored on a Kanobby McCarty ground out RBI.

ST. PETERSBURG LAKEWOOD 10, SOUTHEAST 0 -- The Seminoles' season ended in St. Petersburg with a shutout loss to Lakewood in the Class 5A-District 11 semifinals. The Noles (4-14) hung around early against the opponent led by Bo Bichette, a potential first-round pick in this year's MLB Draft, before coughing up six runs in the final two innings of their season.

This story was originally published April 19, 2016 at 11:51 PM with the headline "Prep baseball | Braden River's postseason run ends in district semifinal ."