FORT MYERS, Fla. – Only Mother Nature could put a stop to a dominant pitching performance in the making for Scorpions South 2019’s Jake Garland. The University of Miami commit didn’t allow a ball to leave the infield after three perfect innings while racking up five strikeouts before weather halted play.
The Scorpions held a big lead early before closing out Top Tier Roos 16u Nationals 8-2 to move to 4-0 for the tournament. Ranked No. 231 in the Class of 2019, Garland (2019, Jupiter, Fla.) only needed 37 pitches in his three innings of work. He located his fastball very well, running it up to 88 mph and showed a sharp breaking ball as well as working in a changeup a few times for good measure.
That stifled a hot Roos' lineup coming into Thursday’s matchup between a pair of 3-0 clubs.
“That one of my best outings of the summer by far,” Garland said after the game. “I really tried pitching to contact today with a great defense behind me. I was able to trust my stuff and let it go out there. I’ve had outings this summer where I’ve been overthrowing and trying a bit too hard out there.”
The Scorpions took advantage of mistakes from the Roos in the first inning, scoring two runs aided by three errors to give Garland an early lead to work with.
In the second, the youngest Scorpion on the roster, Billy Underwood (2020, St. Louis, Mo.), blasted a three-run home run over the wall in left to make it a 5-0 Scorpion advantage. The Coastal Carolina commit is one of only three players outside of Florida – hailing from St. Louis – on the roster, but he has become a formidable leadoff man for the Scorpions.
“Coastal Carolina did a good job getting on him early and we’re excited having him with us,” Scorpions head coach George Sandel said. “Brad Wilkerson has done a great job working with him and groomed him to be a good leadoff hitter. He’s had some huge hits the entire summer. He doesn’t take a play off and it’s easy rooting for kids like that.”
With storms halting play in the third inning with the Scorpions leading 5-0, Chase Romain (2019, North Palm Beach, Fla.) singled in a run in the fourth once play resumed to make it 6-0.
The Roos mounted a big threat in the fifth to try and claw back into the contest, scoring two runs and loading the bases up with one out. However, second baseman Jared Petronis (2019, Boynton Beach, Fla.) came on in relief and struck out the final two hitters to keep the Scorpions in command and they didn’t look back.
Sandel lauded the work Garland has done in the weight room, which has helped the righthander become one of the best arms in Florida.
“He has busted his butt in the gym, and he has a chance to be really good,” Sandel said of Garland’s improvement. “He’s a good kid and he’s hungry to improve. When he gets everything going downhill, he’s really tough to hit.”
The Scorpions have two games on Friday in playoff pool play, likely needing one win to advance to the weekend where Garland will be eligible to pitch again on Saturday.
“We didn’t have a good week up in Atlanta (at the 16u WWBA National Championship), and I think the kids came in hungry to get back to work down here,” Sandel said. “We’ve got a lot of arms ready to go for tomorrow and hopefully as we keep moving forward.”
Garland feels that his team plays their best not thinking ahead to the next play, and with the prospect of multiple games in multiple days upcoming, focusing in the now is their key.
“We need to play our game and not think too much out there. Everyone has swung the bat pretty well for us down here, and we’ve thrown the ball well on the mound so we’re in a good spot heading to tomorrow.”