AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Senior south Kevin Sinatra held down the hump to lead Suffolk baseball to its first victory of the 2019 season, as he scattered three hits and one walk in a complete-game in a 6-0 shutout over Wentworth Saturday morning at Lake Myrtle Park at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 6 | Wentworth 0
RECORDS: Suffolk (1-1) | Wentworth (2-7)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk opened the game with a four-run first inning to take a lead it never gave up. The bags chucked quickly as a Will Hopkins' single was followed by back-to-back base-on-balls from Trevor Lee and Blase Cormier. Tim Brigham brought in the first run of the day on a base hit to center field and two batters later Joe Rufo's single through the left side scored Lee and Cormier. Brigham made his way around the bases courtesy of Rufo's two RBI single and came in on Shane Lake's single to center for the 4-0 early edge. The four-run margin held in the Rams' favor as Sinatra limited the Leopards to just one hit through the first four innings. Suffolk's offense hit a lull as well until the top of the of the fourth when it tacked on a pair of runs so stretch its advantage to six. Lake wore a pitch to start things off, moved over on a wild pitch and made his way home when Rich Gilbride knocked a one-out double to left. The second wild throw of the frame allowed Suffolk's shortstop to take third, which set up Hopkins sac fly.
Up 6-0, Sinatra continued to deal heat to keep Wentworth off the scoreboard heading into the home half of the seventh. The Leopards looked to erase the shutout and Jake Smith led things off with a single through the left side. The Rams had other things in mind as they turned a double play on the next at bat and Hopkins grabbed Kyle Litwin's fly ball to seal the win for Suffolk.
PITCHERS PICTURE
- Sinatra's complete-game, shutout performance was a three-hit, one-walk, one-strikeout effort.
- Leo Coehlo dealt 5.0 innings for the Leopards. The starter allowed all six runs on nine hits and three walks with three strikeouts to his credit.
- Hunter Thornton came out of the pen and limited the Rams to just one hit over the final two innings.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Eight Rams combined for Suffolk's 10 hits with Brigham and Rufo each providing two.
- Brigham, who went 2-for-3 with one walk, added one RBI and one run scored.
- Rufo, who hit 2-for-4, brought in a team-high two runs.
- Cormier, Gilbride, Hopkins, Lake Lee, and San Antonio each had one hit to their credit.
- Gilbride hit the only extra-base hit of the day with a double.
- Hopkins registered the lone sacrifice of the outing with a sac fly.
NOTEWORTHY
- The blue-and-gold renewed a rivalry with their Boston foe, meeting for the first time since 2011.
- Suffolk battled Wentworth under Anthony Del Prete's guidance for the first time.
- The Rams won their fourth straight contest with WIT to improve to 13-3 all-time against the Leopards.
- Rufo matched a career-high in hits (2) and RBI (2).
- Sinatra tossed his third collegiate complete-game shutout and first since a 10-0, seven-inning decision at Norwich April 17, 2016.
POST-GAME PIC
COMING UP
Suffolk wraps up the two-game tilt with the Leopards this afternoon.
