Plenty of fireworks for Tropics baseball in 19-3 win over De Soto
As the bottom of the fifth inning got under way, Southeast Tropics pitcher Dalton Hobgood sailed a pitch in to the first batter for a strike as fireworks exploded across the street from the baseball field.
It was enough to startle Hobgood as the throw back to the mound sailed past him, but it was hardly the first fireworks of the game, and they were often provided by Hobgood.
The Tropics exploded for 19 runs on 19 hits as they rolled past De Soto Senior Legion 19-3 in five innings on Saturday afternoon at Ollie Amick Field.
It was another positive performance in what's been a recent string of them for Southeast, which has gone 7-1 in the past two weeks to improve to 10-11 on the season.
"We've come a long way and we're really starting to get on track as a team," Southeast coach Dustin Schwartz said.
On a day when everyone got involved offensively, it was Hobgood who led the way, going 4-for-5 with four runs scored, six RBIs, a double, a triple and a stolen base.
On top of that, he got the win on the mound, recovering from a lackluster first inning to shut down De Soto the rest of the way. Ultimately, he scattered eight hits and allowed three runs while striking out four and walking one in the five-inning complete game.
"You really can't say enough about what Dalton did for us today," Schwartz said. "He muscled up on the bump when we needed him to and pitched his butt off for us. He really had that ace mentality we're looking for as a team.
"At the plate, he had a really good approach and came through, I think, twice with the bases loaded. He did what he needed to do to win in every aspect of game."
While Hobgood kept De Soto off the scoreboard following a three-run first inning, he got plenty of help from his offense.
Tropics leadoff man Dillon Mize went 3-for-3 with four runs scored, a pair driven in, a double and a triple and reached base in all four plate appearances. Matt Finley went 4-for-4 with three RBIs and a double, and Austin Copeland was 3-for-4 with two runs batted in.
"We're getting good approaches and just not missing pitches," Schwartz said. "When we've got it, we hit it. We've gotten good hitter's counts, and when we got that we're not missing our pitch."
That started immediately for Southeast, which played as the visiting team and scored three runs on four hits in the top of the first inning, putting its first five batters of the game on base.
De Soto responded in the bottom of the first by battling with two outs, getting a double from Blake House and an RBI single from Andrew Downs, before a walk and an infield single set the table for Bishop Poole to tie things with an RBI-single to right-center field.
That was the last time De Soto felt good about things, as it stalled out against Hobgood.
"[Hobgood] is a smart kid. He put it behind him," Schwartz said. "He's played the game a long time and he knows what he has to do to win. He adjusted and went out and did what he had to do. He's a good kid and a good ball player."
Colton Dunbar reached for the Tropics with a two-out walk in the top of the second and scored the go-ahead run on a Finley base hit to take a 4-3 edge.
Southeast then scored four runs on four hits in the third inning and five runs on four hits in the fourth inning to break open the game.
Hobgood came through with bases-loaded hits in both innings, including a three-run triple into the right-field corner in the third.
Corby Seib had an RBI double in the fourth before a pair of free passes loaded the bags for Hobgood to drive in a pair.
With things already well in control through four innings, 13-3, the Tropics continued the onslaught in the fifth inning.
Mize came through with a one-out, two-RBI triple and then scored on a Hobgood single, and a walk and a base hit set things up for Finley to plate a pair of runners with a double to center field.
An A.J. Owens single with two outs capped the game's scoring.
The Tropics had six extra-base hits in the game; De Soto finished with three extra-base hits.
Starting pitcher Trevor Reando took the loss for De Soto, charged with seven runs on eight hits in 2 1/3 innings of work, walking five, hitting a batter and striking out one.
Southeast forced three pitching changes in the five innings, but Zach Maupin, Ben Dickmann and Dieterich Guertzen fared no better, as no reliever lasted longer than 1 1/3 innings.
The game opened a three-game set at Ollie Amick Field. De Soto faced the Mineral Area Orioles in a second game before the Tropics defeated the Orioles in Game 3.
The opener began with a makeshift umpire on the field after a miscommunication left the game without officials. After a 10-minute-plus delay to the start, a fill-in was recruited to take up the position behind the plate until an official arrived midway through the first inning to handle the rest of the game.
Southeast | 314 | 56 | -- | 19 | 19 | 1 |
De Soto | 300 | 00 | -- | 3 | 8 | 1 |
WP -- Dalton Hobgood. LP -- Trevor Reando. 2B -- Hobgood (SE), Matt Finley (SE), Colton Dunbar (SE), Dillon Mize (SE), Blake House (D), Andrew Downs (D), Brandon Nunnally (D). 3B -- Hobgood (SE), Mize (SE). Multiple hits -- Southeast: Mize 3-3, Hobgood 4-5, Austin Copeland 3-4, Finley 4-4, A.J. Owens 2-3; De Soto: Downs 2-3.