In a back and forth affair that featured plenty of offense from both teams, the Palm Harbor University Hurricanes defeated the Clearwater Central Catholic Marauders 8-7 in six innings for their first regular season win. South Florida recruit 2019 Tanner Mink (Palm Harbor University HS, FL) had a standout night at the plate going 3-for-3 which included an RBI double and three runs scored to pace the Hurricanes offense.

 

 

2019 RHP Hunter Mink (Palm Harbor University HS, FL) started the game for the Hurricanes and featured a fastball that sat mostly at 88-90 mph early on before settling in and pitching at 87-88 while still being able to reach back and touch 90 when he needed it. He also mixed in an 80-82 mph changeup along with a 71-73 mph slider with tight spin. The Florida recruit was efficient early on in his first two innings of work before the Marauders finally got to him and forced him to exit after three innings.

 

 

Trailing 2-0 in the top of the third, the Marauders looked to the top of their order for a spark when 2019 IF Dean Mercer (Clearwater Central Catholic, FL) delivered an RBI single into left field to tie things up 2-2. The Hurricanes would answer back though with a four run inning in the bottom of the third with key hits coming off the bats of 2019 IF Tanner Mink and 2018 OF Nick Defalle (Palm Harbor University HS, FL) who came through with a bases clearing double to put them ahead 6-2.

The Marauders quickly answered back though in the top of the fourth and put a big inning of their own together by taking a 7-6 lead with key hits coming from 2020 IF Douglas Terzigni (Clearwater Central Catholic, FL) and 2020 IF Blake Wright (Clearwater Central Catholic, FL) to drive in a pair during their five run inning.

The Hurricanes took the lead back for good in the bottom of the fourth when starter Hunter Mink drove in a run on a single down the line to tie things up followed by Tanner Mink scoring the go-ahead run on a wild pitch to make it 8-7. 2019 LHP Andy Booth (Palm Harbor University HS, FL) shut down the Marauders for the final two innings, working mostly at 81-83 mph, touching 84 with his fastball along with a 64-67 mph curveball with depth to preserve the win for the Hurricanes.

With their opening win, the Palm Harbor University Hurricanes moved to 1-0 and will face off against Largo HS in their next matchup. The Marauders will look to bounce back and earn their first victory of the season when they take on IMG Academy.

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