No. 10 Providence Overcomes Early Deficit to Defeat St. John's Country Day
March 9, 2019
ORANGE PARK, FL - No. 10 Providence made the short trip to St. John’s Country Day on Friday evening to take on the Spartans. St. John’s took an early 2-0 lead, but Providence battled back, using two big innings, to win 7-2.
St. John’s got on the board right away in the first inning. 2B Finn Howell reached base on a ground ball that took a nasty hop in front of the shortstop. Howell was then able to advanced all the way to third base when starting pitch RHP Tucker Talbott (Florida recruit) sent a pickoff down the right field line. C Tyler Kuramoto then muscled a ball through the infield, scoring Howell.
In the third inning, the Spartans added another run to their lead. SS Connor Moore (Florida State commit) led the inning off by turning on a pitch and launching it over the left field wall for a solo home run. That would be the extent of St. John’s offensive success for the evening.
Starting pitcher RHP Jordan Taylor (Florida State commit) cruised through the first three innings of the game. He did not allow a hit and struck out five in the first three frames. The freshman pitcher did not back down from a high powered offense.
No. 3 2022 in FL, @SJCDbaseball RHP Jordan Taylor (#FSU commit) comes out sitting 83 mph, controlled the zone. Got swing and miss with sinking CH at 73-75. Attacked the Providence lineup, got Callihan and Hickey to groundout to right-side @PBRFlorida pic.twitter.com/arsvfWPbCv
— Phil Kerber (@PhilKerberPBR) March 8, 2019
Providence got on the board in the top of the fourth thanks to a leadoff solo home run over the center field wall by SS Tyler Callihan (South Carolina recruit). Two batters later, Talbott gave the Stallions the lead for goo with a two-run home run to center field. Providence would add one more run in the inning, extending their lead to 4-2.
#Gamecocks recruit SS Tyler Callihan (@provschoolath) makes his presence known in the top of the 4th with a no doubt HR over the CF wall. One of the top bats in the entire country, hits anything and everything. 2-1 @SJCDbaseball leads. @PBRFlorida pic.twitter.com/Lxm9U9tuRN
— Phil Kerber (@PhilKerberPBR) March 8, 2019
RHP Jason Hamby entered in relief of Talbott in the fourth inning. Hamby kept the Spartans at-bay for one and a third innings before giving way to Callihan. The do-it-all senior was able to get the Stallions out of a two men on, one out situation with no harm done.
The Providence offense responded with three more runs in the top of the sixth inning. Four walks and a two-run double by Talbott made it 7-2 Providence. St. John’s did not go down without a fight though. In the bottom half of the inning 1B Luke Shannahan roped a ball down the right field line for a two-out double. RF Mason Davis then reached base on a fielding error and all of a sudden two men were on. However, Callihan regrouped and was able to get a much needed punch out.
After 6 innings, @provschoolath have taken a commanding 7-2 lead over @SJCDbaseball. A Swiss Army knife, Tyler Callihan has come on in relief, through 1.2 IP has 3 Ks. FB sitting mostly 88-90, sweeping breaker at 70 mph @NathanRode @PBRFlorida #MLBDraft pic.twitter.com/fAD8yf9vFX
— Phil Kerber (@PhilKerberPBR) March 9, 2019
The seventh inning was less dramatic as Callihan took care of business quickly, ending the game with back-to-back strikeouts.
Offensively for Providence, Talbott (2-for-4, 1 HR, 1 2B, 4 RBI, 1 R) led all hitters with two hits, Callihan and Charles Slagle also picked up a hit apiece. St. John’s Country Day had six players record a hit: Moore, Howell, Kuramoto, Shannahan, Taylor and Bradley Hodges