By Justin Burgess
Florida Area Scout

North Florida Christian opened their regular season by taking on Bay HS at home. 2015 grad and FSU signee Cole Sands, started on the hill for NFC and drew about a dozen MLB scouts to watch him. In the top of the first, Sands worked through a quick five-pitch inning giving up no base runners. In the bottom half, Sands reached on an error but the Eagles could not drive him in.

In the top of the second inning, Sands allowed one hit to Tristan Ragen but that was all he surrendered. Tornadoes starter Garrett Whittle had a quick, scoreless inning of his own to keep the game 0-0. Sands continued to dominate with his powerful fastball and mixing in a hard slider to get a 1-2-3 inning in the third. In the bottom half of the third, Whittle again responded with a shutout inning. In the top of the fourth, Sands let up a single to Kristian Brogden after getting two quick outs. Sands responded by striking out his sixth batter of the game. Ethan Michaelis then led off the bottom of the fourth with a single and two batters later shortstop Landon Seymour roped a double down the left field line, but Michaelis was thrown out at the plate trying to score.

The Tornadoes put some pressure on the Eagles in the top of the fifth when Tristen Ragen led off by reaching on an error and was moved over on a sacrifice bunt. A passed ball let both runners advance, and later in the inning with two outs, a wild pitch scored Ragen to give Bay a 1-0 lead. The Eagles were able to quickly respond in the bottom half when Taylor Schmidt led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on an error. Travis Ray was then able to reach on an error and Jordan Bennett sacrificed Schmidt and Ray over but was also able to reach on an error. With the bases loaded and no outs, pinch hitter Chris Corneil stepped to the plate and launched a grand slam that was a no doubter to left field. The Eagles led 4-1 after five innings.

Trey Pearce was able to relieve Sands in the bottom of the sixth and put up a zero after walking the first two hitters. In the bottom half, the Eagles added six more runs on the board when Schmidt again started the inning with a single and Travis Hall hit a deep two-run home run to give NFC some cushion. After Jordan Bennett reached on an error, Chris Jerry reached on a single, and Logan Dungey reached on an error, Ethan Michaelis roped a base hit up the middle to drive in two runs. Cole Sands was able to help himself out by providing a two-RBI single of his own to put the Eagles up 10-1.

In the top of the seventh, 2016 grad and FSU commit Cole Ragans closed the game with a 1-2-3 inning to give the North Florida Christian Eagles the win over the Bay Tornadoes 10-1.

Statistical Highlights

NFC                                                                       Bay

Cole Sands: 5 IP, 7 K's, 0 ER                               Garrett Whittle: 4 2/3 IP, 1 K, 3 ER

Chris Corneil: 1-1 GS, 4 RBI's                              Kristian Brogden: 1-3

Travis Ray: 1-2 BB, 2-run HR                                  Tristen Ragen: 1-3

 

CLICK HERE for insider scouting notes on this game and more in the Florida Scout Blog

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