Eagles Trace Meding One Hits Fort Pierce Westwood In Three Inning Slugfest

February 27, 2017 – Fort Pierce, FL – St. Lucie West Centennial Pitcher Trace Meding only needed 52 pitches to work his magic against Fort Pierce Westwood in an afternoon game in Fort Pierce as the Eagles downed the Panthers 16-0 in three innings. Meding allowed just one hit on the day as 64% of his pitches reached the strike zone where he fanned four Panther batters while walking two. He averaged just 5.7 pitches per batter for the day.

At the plate the Eagles were led by Nathan Hinkley who went 3-2 with three RBI’s, Austin Hiller with two RBI’s, Danilo Quezada with two RBI’s, and Luke Hartely who went 2-2 with five RBI’s as the Eagles plated four runs in the first, ten in the second and two in the third to improve to 2-1 for the season.

Maurieio Calderon had the sole hit for FP Westwood, a shot to third base in the bottom of the first inning.

Three Panther pitchers combined for 113 pitches allowing nine hits, one walk and six errors while striking out one Eagle batter.

The Eagles put 21 batters to the plate for the day compared to nine for Westwood.

The Panthers travel to Treasure Coast tomorrow to face the Titans at 3:30 while the Eagles are on the road against Jensen Beach on Wednesday for a 6PM start and back at home vs. Fort Pierce Central on Friday for a 3:30 matchup.

Rams Drop Close Game to Martin County Despite Great Pitching by Brian Jacobus

John Carroll 11th grade
flame thrower Brian Jacobus
and his 6'6" frame are sure
to catch the attention
of college and professional
scouts.

February 26, 1017 – Stuart, FL – John Carroll’s Varsity Baseball team lost a tight game to Martin County last night 5-3 in Stuart. The non-district game was a make-up contest from Wednesday’s rain out.

  

On the mound, Junior Brian Jacobus threw 77 pitches over four innings of which 51% landed in the strike zone and allowed only three hits on the day while fanning five Tiger batters. Jacobus 6’6” frame is sure to grab the attention of recruiters at the Division I level and professional scouts as he refines his craft. We are just beginning to see the talent in this up and coming talent.

Ram Senior Michael
Pedersen is having
a great year at the plate.

Led at the plate by Michael Pedersen who went 2-4, the Rams outhit County 7-5, while stealing five bases including a rare steal of home plate to score a run. Ram Sophomore Michael LaRocca had yet another great game that included a RBI and a stolen base.

10th grader Michael LaRocca continues
to impress at the plate.

The difference in the game were Ram batters striking out ten times to nine times for Tiger Batters and the Rams stranding 10 base runners while Martin County stranded nine.

John Carroll faces Lincoln Park Academy in a non-district game on Tuesday at Lawnwood Baseball Complex at 6:00PM and travels to Coral Springs Christian on Thursday for an early key District game with a 3:45PM first pitch.

Golden Girls Stay PERFECT!

Lady Ram Taylor Montoya  was a
perfect 3 for 3 at the plate
today and also knocked in 3 RBI's.

February 24, 2017 – Fort Pierce, FL - John Carrol’s Lady Rams Softball team racked up their fourth win and fourth shutout in a row today against Highlands Christian of Pompano Beach in a District contest. Amya Baxley threw all five-innings fanning 4 batters while walking five in the Rams second straight no-hitter. Ashley Rosado no-hit FP Central yesterday.

In just four games this season the Rams have crossed the plate 43 times averaging nearly 11 runs per game.

At the plate Rosado and Sophomore Ashley Montoya each belted triples as the Ram girls punched 14 hits on the day, with Montoya going 3-3 with 3 RBI’s as well; Baxley going 3-4 and Rachel Thomas going 2-3.

Montoya has a whopping .750 batting average so far this season with 14 plate appearances and 14 RBI’s. Superstar pitcher Rosado is batting .667 with 8 hits and 9 RBI’s.

The Lady Rams are on the road next week at Coral Springs Christian of Friday before heading to Key West for a double-header on Saturday. The Golden Girls return home to face Vero Beach on Thursday in a non-district matchup which should be a huge test for a team looking to return to the State Series in May.

Wells Having Fun Coaching At St. Andrews

Feb 23, 2017 – Fort Pierce, FL - St. Andrews Lions new Head Baseball Coach Andy Wells is picking up right where he left off last year – winning! Wells, who took his John Carroll Golden Rams Baseball Team to the State Final Four last season is off to a 2-0 record at the cross-town rival, including a 12-2 victory of Masters Academy of Vero Beach tonight at the Lawnwood Baseball complex.

Lee Kubitschek pitched for 4.2 innings and recorded nine strikeouts, including 12 first pitch strikes and Brendan O’Shea closed it out for the Lions recording one strike out. Nate Fowler started the game for Masters going three innings with three strike outs before being replaced by Rollie Brown who threw two innings with a strikeout.

Both Fowler and Kubitschek, along with St. Andrews’ Steven Stagg belted two hits each, with Stagg accounting for five RBI’s.

St. Andrews cranked out nine hits and had no errors while Masters Academy had five hits and multiple errors, mostly on infield pop-ups where communication broke down between players, which is not unexpected this early in the season and is correctable through effective coaching – something that Masters Academy has.

As for Wells, he was relaxed and at ease and really seemed to be enjoying himself. He was doing what he told his players to do throughout the game – “just have fun”.

Sometimes we all forget that it is just a game and the players are still just kids. And Wells coaches’ the game the way it should be coached - with lots of fun!

Look for this year’s St. Andrews squad to make a run at the post season.

The College Corner - Week of February 21, 2017

Fort Pierce Central Grad Sam Vaughn continues his three-prong assault on University of Georgia. Vaughn is a quarterback on the football team, a pitcher on the baseball team and he was just named to the All SEC Honor Roll.

LPA Grad Taylor Martin killed it last week at Shorter University in Rome Georgia, going three for three at the plate with a home run and five RBI’s against Miles College on 02/16/2017. The homer was her first as a college student-athlete and was a line drive over the left field wall. Martin has a slugging percentage of .500 with an on base percentage of .360. She has accounted for 11 runs so far this season and has fielding percentage of .971 with 20 put outs. The Lady Hawks are in the hunt for a Division II National Ranking as they downed the country’s eighth ranked team, North Georgia, in a Valentine’s Day double header earlier in the week.

John Carroll Catholic Grad Chase Solesky is bustin’ his butt at Tulane. Per the coaching staff, Chase has the highest GPA of ANY incoming freshman in the past seven years. If that were not enough, he has made a real impression on his head coach who frequently mentions him to the local New Orleans news media. The Green Wave hosted Airforce on Saturday where Solesky reunited with longtime pal and LPA grad Jeff Gerlica, a pitcher on the Air Force squad. Chase pitched (for the first time in college) in relief for the Green Wave where he netted two strike outs and allowed only one hit. He is scheduled to start on Tuesday evening for Tulane.

Another John Carroll Grad, Mario Persuti, returned to the Treasure Coast last week with his Daytona State Baseball Team and belted his first college home run against Indian River State College. Mario’s slugging percentage is .381 with a very respectable on base percentage of .452.

Lincoln Park Grad Taylor “Speedy” Boykin is off to a fantastic start at the University of South Carolina Beaufort. The freshman Lady Sand Shark is batting .308 with eight hits, seven runs and two RBI’s in nine games played thus far.  Speedy is two for two in stolen bases and has only struck out 3 times (12%) in 26 plate appearances. She also has a fielding percentage of 1.000 and has accounted for 11 put outs.

Golden Rams Off To Strong Start

John Carroll Senior Austin Nirenburg
packs a big punch in a small package.

The John Carroll Golden Rams Baseball Team finished the pre-season looking strong enough to make another deep run into the playoffs, and perhaps a return trip to the Final Four in Fort Myers where their season ended last year. Although the Golden Rams graduated six, including Chase Solosky, the area’s top pitching prospect, and lost their coach to cross town rival St. Andrews, they return a seasoned crew ready to pick things up where they left off last year.

New Coach Dan Taylor, who relocated to the area from North Carolina after being recruited by first year Athletic Director Dave Raym, is sure to bring out the hidden talent in Austin Nirenburg, Joey LeClaire, Michael Pederson and Joshua Harrell, four of the teams Seniors who were on last year’s Regional Championship Squad. Add in Juniors Justin O’Leary and Andrew Borque along with Sophomores Drew Hicks and Michael LaRocca and the team has eight players who were an instrumental part of last year’s championship run.

At the plate Nirenberg has been perfect this preseason going four for four with four RBI’s and stealing one half of the teams total stolen bases, while O’Leary and LaRocca account for the other half. Pederson has also gone four for four this preseason, scoring three runs an RBI and a stand-up triple, while LaClaire has gone three for three at the plate with two runs and an RBI.  The 6’1 LaRocca has also been strong at the plate going three for four, scoring two runs, and two RBI’s with a single, double and a stand-up triple.

Although pitching isn’t the luxury it was last year, the Golden Rams have a rich history of developing strong pitchers, including first round MLB draft pick Colton Willims a few years back. This seasons flame throwers have already recorded a combined 15 strike outs, while allowing only two walks, three hits and two runs. A core of five seasoned pitchers should rotate starts, while four additional pitchers will be available for relief work and to step in in case of injury.

Nirenberg has the most “big game” experience as he closed out the Regional Championship Game last spring. Junior Brian Jacobus, who leads the team in strike outs thus far and has not allowed a hit in the preseason along with Senior Josh Harrell, who has five of the teams 15 strike outs and has allowed only one hit, along with fellow Senior Hiram Garland will get plenty of innings once the season starts. Senior LeClaire and Sophomore LaRocca, the team’s sole southpaw pitcher) will surely add some spice on the mound as well.

John Carroll opened their season with a decisive 9-2 district victory over Jupiter Christian on Monday 2-20.