P.K. Yonge Baseball Surges on Senior Night to Beat Crescent City
Winds were strong and spirits were high in the stands for P.K. Yonge and its fans Thursday night. The Blue Wave took the annual Senior Night game at Bobby Hawkins Field 6-1 against Crescent City, as they inch closer to the district tournament next week.
Although Senior Night may seem as an emotional night for players, it didn’t seem to stop Charlie Tumminia (3-1) from pitching a stellar game. The fourth-year veteran nearly went the distance, pitching 6 1/3 innings, striking out seven batters and allowing only two hits and one earned run.
“My fastball was going well tonight and they were all late on it,” Tumminia said. “Overall, I feel I did pretty good, just kept padding the zone with the fastball. Couldn’t really touch me.”
The Blue Wave (15-8) honored their three seniors in pregame festivities: Tumminia, Ezekiel Young and Camden Anson.
Coach Rob Brunson came to this game with an aggressive baserunning gameplan, having his leadoff man Nico Wheeler bunt on the first pitch and steal second which led to Gerardo Barrios’ RBI single to put the Blue Wave up 1-0 in the first inning.
“I like to establish that early on in the game, get guys to first and steal second,” Brunson said. P.K. Yonge finished with eight steals.
The Blue Wave continued their aggressive gameplan in the second inning, going up 2-0 with solid baserunning by the bottom of the order led by Cooper Schackow (courtesy runner after catcher Matt Knott singled), who scored off a wild pitch. Wheeler scored the second run in the inning off bad throws by the Raiders that put the Blue Wave up 3-0.
The third inning treated the Blue Wave well, as they added two more runs after a smashed two-run double to deep center by Knott which put them up 5-0. Barrios added an RBI single in the next inning, enough for the Blue Wave thanks to Tumminia’s pitching.
Sam DePaul (3-for-3, run), Wheeler (two singles, run), Barrios (two singles, two RBI) and Knott (two-run double, single) were a big part of P.K. Yonge’s 11-hit attack.
The 2A-District 4 tournament journey for the Blue Wave begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday when they again host Crescent City (10-13), a team they also defeated 16-2 on the road Feb. 26. A win then would set up a rematch with Newberry in the second round, a semifinal that Brunson has an eye on.
“That’s gonna be David vs. Goliath,” Brunson said. “We played them pretty close for six innings last game, but if we give them a complete game, I think we have a shot.”
P.K. Yonge closes its regular season Friday at 7 p.m. at struggling Interlachen (4-13), which the Blue Wave defeated 6-5 on Feb. 24 in Gainesville.
Category: High School Sports, PK Yonge High School
