- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 391,798
- Reaction score
- 43
LAKELAND — It’s hard enough to defeat a traditional and often-nationally ranked powerhouse like Owasso (Okla.) when you’re full strength. When you’re short-handed — especially down a pitcher — the degree of difficulty just went up even more.
And when Owasso starting pitcher Jaiden Gustafson is hurling a two-hit gem, well, even a full-strength Santa Fe Catholic squad would have its hands full.
So while Owasso defeated Santa Fe Catholic, 13-0, on Wednesday in the championship game of the 2025 Dan Giannini Baseball Classic, head coach David Saliba is hardly disappointed about where his team is at as it heads into the second half of the season approaches.
For starters, Santa Fe Catholic (13-2) is undefeated in the state of Florida. The Crimson Hawks’ only other loss was to Owasso, 3-1, on Friday prior to the spring break tournament.
2025 Baseball Preview: Here are Polk County's top 20 players to watch this season
Santa Fe was without No. 3 hitter Dylan Flores, who is second on the team with a .406 batting average. Flores sustained a hamstring injury earlier this week and the Crimson Hawks hope to have him back by the end of next week.
No. 2 starter Mike Welling has been held out of the rotation recently although he plays in the field and bats, and he will return to the rotation next week. Center fielder Brodie Lanier missed the tournament with the flu and should be back Monday when the team returns to action. The Crimson Hawks also have been without starting left fielder Brodie Ray for all but four games.
“You can’t have three starters out against a team of this caliber,” Saliba said. “We get Welling back next week, who’s our No. 2 guy, and it’s going to be a big, big blow because he’s very good. So that helps with our pitching depth. We won two games (in the tournament). We beat a good Bozeman team. We scrapped through Fort Meade last night with what we got.”
Welling (1-0, 0.00) has pitched just 8 2/3 innings this season, so when he returns and slots in at the two spot in the rotation, the Crimson Hawks’ pitching staff gets even stronger. Jameson McGuire is 5-0 with a 0.42 ERA. He began the season with 18 shutout innings against powerhouses George Jenkins, Berkeley Prep and Lakeland Christian and will get the nod on Monday when the Crimson Hawks play Parkland Stoneman Douglas, the No. 6 team in the nation in the MaxPreps rankings.
Aaron Walsh is 4-0 with a 0.57 ERA as the Crimson Hawks have received stellar pitching all season before running out of gas against Owasso.
Nathan Arnold got the nod on Wednesday and kept Santa Fe in the game as he allowed four runs in 3 1/3 innings. Santa Fe used a pair of JV pitcher to close out the game.
Saliba couldn’t be happier with how his team has played to start the season. Easton Beach and Marvin Montenegro are a strong 1-2 combination at the top of the lineup. Although he went 0 for 3 against Owasso, Montenegro still batted .363 for the week and is batting a team-leading .455. Beach is hitting .388.
Hudson Link has raised his batting average nearly 60 points from last year to .324 and has emerged as a power hitter. He hit two home runs this week and has four for the season with a team-high 16 RBIs.
“Hudson’s having a great season,” Saliba said. “He’s done a great job.”
Clean-up hitter Angel Andujar, who had one of Santa Fe’s two hits against Owasso, had a stellar tournament. He batted .500 (5 for 10) with a pair of RBIs and raised his batting average 51 points to .341.
While he didn’t pitch, Welling batted .375 for the week and is batting .389 for the season.
Santa Fe went into the week ranked No. 7 in Class 2A in the FHSAA power rankings and No. 3 in a strong region behind No. 3 Lakeland Christian and No. 6 Orlando First Academy. It should be noted that the Crimson Hawks have defeated two teams ranked higher than them with the wins over LCS and Bozeman. With games against Bozeman and Owasso this week, Santa Fe’s strength of schedule should go up.
If everyone is healthy, the Crimson Hawks should be in good shape to make a strong run for the final four.
“Bozeman is supposed to be one of the top teams inner class and we handled them very easily, 11-4,” Saliba said. “With Jameson on the mound, he gives us a chance to beat anybody. So hopefully, we get Michael back, we’ve got a 1-2 punch. Aaron becomes No. 3 and things get pretty solid.”
Pitching will be as important as ever in the postseason. Each regional round is the best two out of three for the first time. The only other time a regional round was two out of three came in the late 2000s when just the regional final went the best two out of three.
In what has been an up-and-down season, McKeel bounced back from its semifinal loss to Owasso by defeating Fort Meade, 5-3, to finish third in the tournament.
The Wildcats (9-6) were led by Brock Spurgeon, who hit a two-run homer.
Jorge Cordova went 1 for 3 to close out a stellar week. He batted .556 as he raised his batting average nearly 100 points to .233.
Although Fort Meade finished 2-2 in the tournament, the Miners are a top team in the Rural classification as they are ranked No. 5.
Matt Pheiffer capped his week by going 2 for 4. He batted .545 (6 for 11) for the week and is batting .448 for the season.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Owasso beats Santa Fe Catholic in title game of Dan Giannini Classic
Continue reading...
And when Owasso starting pitcher Jaiden Gustafson is hurling a two-hit gem, well, even a full-strength Santa Fe Catholic squad would have its hands full.
So while Owasso defeated Santa Fe Catholic, 13-0, on Wednesday in the championship game of the 2025 Dan Giannini Baseball Classic, head coach David Saliba is hardly disappointed about where his team is at as it heads into the second half of the season approaches.
For starters, Santa Fe Catholic (13-2) is undefeated in the state of Florida. The Crimson Hawks’ only other loss was to Owasso, 3-1, on Friday prior to the spring break tournament.
2025 Baseball Preview: Here are Polk County's top 20 players to watch this season
Santa Fe was without No. 3 hitter Dylan Flores, who is second on the team with a .406 batting average. Flores sustained a hamstring injury earlier this week and the Crimson Hawks hope to have him back by the end of next week.
You must be registered for see images attach
No. 2 starter Mike Welling has been held out of the rotation recently although he plays in the field and bats, and he will return to the rotation next week. Center fielder Brodie Lanier missed the tournament with the flu and should be back Monday when the team returns to action. The Crimson Hawks also have been without starting left fielder Brodie Ray for all but four games.
“You can’t have three starters out against a team of this caliber,” Saliba said. “We get Welling back next week, who’s our No. 2 guy, and it’s going to be a big, big blow because he’s very good. So that helps with our pitching depth. We won two games (in the tournament). We beat a good Bozeman team. We scrapped through Fort Meade last night with what we got.”
Welling (1-0, 0.00) has pitched just 8 2/3 innings this season, so when he returns and slots in at the two spot in the rotation, the Crimson Hawks’ pitching staff gets even stronger. Jameson McGuire is 5-0 with a 0.42 ERA. He began the season with 18 shutout innings against powerhouses George Jenkins, Berkeley Prep and Lakeland Christian and will get the nod on Monday when the Crimson Hawks play Parkland Stoneman Douglas, the No. 6 team in the nation in the MaxPreps rankings.
Aaron Walsh is 4-0 with a 0.57 ERA as the Crimson Hawks have received stellar pitching all season before running out of gas against Owasso.
Nathan Arnold got the nod on Wednesday and kept Santa Fe in the game as he allowed four runs in 3 1/3 innings. Santa Fe used a pair of JV pitcher to close out the game.
Saliba couldn’t be happier with how his team has played to start the season. Easton Beach and Marvin Montenegro are a strong 1-2 combination at the top of the lineup. Although he went 0 for 3 against Owasso, Montenegro still batted .363 for the week and is batting a team-leading .455. Beach is hitting .388.
Hudson Link has raised his batting average nearly 60 points from last year to .324 and has emerged as a power hitter. He hit two home runs this week and has four for the season with a team-high 16 RBIs.
“Hudson’s having a great season,” Saliba said. “He’s done a great job.”
Clean-up hitter Angel Andujar, who had one of Santa Fe’s two hits against Owasso, had a stellar tournament. He batted .500 (5 for 10) with a pair of RBIs and raised his batting average 51 points to .341.
While he didn’t pitch, Welling batted .375 for the week and is batting .389 for the season.
Santa Fe went into the week ranked No. 7 in Class 2A in the FHSAA power rankings and No. 3 in a strong region behind No. 3 Lakeland Christian and No. 6 Orlando First Academy. It should be noted that the Crimson Hawks have defeated two teams ranked higher than them with the wins over LCS and Bozeman. With games against Bozeman and Owasso this week, Santa Fe’s strength of schedule should go up.
If everyone is healthy, the Crimson Hawks should be in good shape to make a strong run for the final four.
“Bozeman is supposed to be one of the top teams inner class and we handled them very easily, 11-4,” Saliba said. “With Jameson on the mound, he gives us a chance to beat anybody. So hopefully, we get Michael back, we’ve got a 1-2 punch. Aaron becomes No. 3 and things get pretty solid.”
Pitching will be as important as ever in the postseason. Each regional round is the best two out of three for the first time. The only other time a regional round was two out of three came in the late 2000s when just the regional final went the best two out of three.
McKeel takes 3rd place
In what has been an up-and-down season, McKeel bounced back from its semifinal loss to Owasso by defeating Fort Meade, 5-3, to finish third in the tournament.
The Wildcats (9-6) were led by Brock Spurgeon, who hit a two-run homer.
Jorge Cordova went 1 for 3 to close out a stellar week. He batted .556 as he raised his batting average nearly 100 points to .233.
Although Fort Meade finished 2-2 in the tournament, the Miners are a top team in the Rural classification as they are ranked No. 5.
Matt Pheiffer capped his week by going 2 for 4. He batted .545 (6 for 11) for the week and is batting .448 for the season.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Owasso beats Santa Fe Catholic in title game of Dan Giannini Classic
Continue reading...
