By Travis Puterbaugh, Times Correspondent
Saturday, March 5, 2011
LUTZ — Less than 24 hours after doing most everything right in a 10-3 victory over Strawberry Crest, the Steinbrenner Warriors failed to make the most of their scoring opportunities in a 5-2 loss to the Jesuit Tigers on Saturday afternoon.
The Warriors (4-3) twice had the tying or go-ahead run at the plate late in the game but were unable to convert. In the sixth inning, Jesuit pitcher Conor O'Brien struck out Christian Diaz with two outs and the bases loaded, and in the seventh O'Brien escaped a two-on, no-out situation by inducing a ground-ball double play out of Jesse Haney and retiring the next hitter to end the game. O'Brien allowed four hits and struck out two in 3 2/3 innings of relief.
"Conor did a great job out there," Jesuit coach Richie Warren said. "He was able to come in, get us out of an early jam, and continue to pitch well into the seventh."
Jesuit (4-2) scored in the first inning as Lance McCullers drove in Bryce Walker with a single to left, and Peter Alonso scored on a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead.
In the top of third inning Jesuit got an RBI single by Spencer Trayner and a solo homer to right-center by Alonso to stretch its advantage to 4-0.
In the bottom of the third, Steinbrenner first baseman Chad Witkowski hit a two-run homer to leftfield that trimmed it to 4-2.
The Tigers added a run in the fourth, and the Warriors, who outhit the Tigers 11-6, were unable to get any timely hits the rest of the afternoon.
"We left a lot of opportunities out there," Steinbrenner coach John Crumbley said. "We can't continue to work on things, and then go into the games and not execute."