TERRA Holds Off Stranahan In Madness Shootout Opener
The TERRA Wolves held off the Stranahan Mighty Dragons to earn a 5-1 win in Saturday’s HSBN March Madness Shootout Black Bracket opening game, at Pompano Municipal Park in Pompano Beach. TERRA (7-10) advances to the quarterfinals, where it awaits the winner between Mater Academy and Northeast.
Joe Sanchez picked up the win with a strong performance on the mound, holding the Dragons (7-7) to one hit in six innings. Christopher Saavedra closed out the seventh to preserve the victory.
TERRA grabbed the lead in the bottom of the first inning when Matthew Muina lined an RBI single that drove in shortstop Andre Perez. It added to that lead in the second, as Luis Trujillo legged out a triple on a fly ball that tipped just off the glove of the diving outfielder and then Jordan Arroyo sent a flare into shallow left field to drive Trujillo in for the 2-0 lead.
Stranahan starter Jonahys Camero settled in after that, and things remained the same until the Wolves put the game away with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Alex Garcia had an infield single and Michael Mourino lined a base hit that skipped off the pitcher’s glove and left the defense with no chance to make a play. Trujillo then singled to center to load the bases, and Matthew Hernandez drove in a pair on a liner that landed just inside the chalk deep down the left field line. Trujillo then came in off an error to make it a 5-0 advantage.
Stranahan avoided the shutout with one final rally push in the seventh. Andy Vargas singled, then swiped second base and advanced to third thanks to a ground ball from Jacob Chamblin. Santiago Mosquera then drove Vargas in with a 6-3 RBI groundout.