This will be the last post recapping the Roos from Florida, however there will be more posts throughout the rest of the season.
March 13, 2015
FROSTPROOF, FL
In game one, Brandon Welch, and Christian Nazario-Cruz provided the only Roo offense behind the pitching of Zach Lawrence. Welch singled in a run and Cruz notched a couple of hits and scored a run. Wilson Matos, Matt Hall, and Vinny Bondinello also added hits for Canton. Greg Dobies came in to play 3rd in the top of the 6th, and he initiated a nice double play.
ZLaw on the mound
Chris Roenbeck at the dish.
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| Dan Coant providing relief on the mound |
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| Jesse Barton connecting, and stroking a pitch |
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| Greg Dobies also connecting off of a Penn State pitcher |
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| Vinny Bondinello |
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| Welch Staying Hot at the Plate. |
In game two, Derek Harkin pitched an excellent game. He recorded 5 assists, and struck out three throughout his performance. In the second inning, Seth Douglas hammered the first pitch of the inning over the wall in dead centerfield. It was the Roos first homerun of the year, and also put the Roos out on top, 1-0 through 2. He went on and totaled 3 hits in the game. Derrick Machado, Dalton Demarco, and Cruz tallied other hits for the Canton offense. The Roos lost on a tough walk-off hit in the bottom of the 7th, after a Nittany Lion rally.
March 14, 2015
JENKINS HS: LAKELAND, FL
JENKINS HS: LAKELAND, FL
We rode on the bus for less than 10 minutes to arrive at the destination of our next match-up: George W. Jenkins High School. The beauty of the complex was overwhelming. Their funding was obvious with the presence of pristine fields, scoreboards, announcing booths, and lights. The resources were unending, it seemed, as we made our way to the field from the parking lot. The sun had cast its long shadows across the baseball field.
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| Travis & Robbie |
The players warmed up on the dew-laden field and the sun began soaking up the moisture prior to the start of the game.
Juan Rosa pitching
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| The View from the Press Box |
Robbie on the Mound
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| Cruz and Welch continued to own the opponents' pitching |
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Welch had a double, and a run scored. On the defensive end he recorded 6 putouts and an assist.
Jeremy Baez, Cruz, and Hall all walked once.
12:30-1:15 pm
After the game, we enjoyed SMOKIN' Jim's BBQ one last time before we departed and hit the road for Myrtle Beach. They catered a ton of food to the baseball field, and we had a picnic with the coaches and some parents behind the dugouts. The weather was still beautiful, and the sun still beamed upon us as our time in Florida winded down.
11:00 pm
MYRTLE BEACH--
We had enough time to check in, and settle in to our hotel before winding down for the night. The room's view towards the ocean was magnificent, and we could hear the crash of the waves when we opened the balcony door. I set my alarm early so I could catch the sunrise in the morning.
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| The night view wasn't shabby... But the sunrise in the morning was insane... |
The sunrise in Myrtle Beach could be seen directly from our hotel room balcony. An orange glow came from the sun and oozed across the morning sky. The crash of the waves tumbling onto the beach made it seem as if the endless ocean connected at some point over the horizon with the magnificent sky.
Once we departed the hotel in the morning after our breakfast, we headed to Crosley Field at the Ripken Complex in Myrtle Beach.
Named, and replicated, after the iconic ballpark which was home to the Cincinnati Reds, it was a brand new addition to the Ripken Complex in 2014.
The Kangaroos sprang to an early 1-0 lead in the first behind the bats of Wilson Matos, who singled, Brandon Welch, who doubled, and Seth Douglas, who brought Matos in from third with two outs. 
Abillar at the plate
When the Roos came to hit in the 2nd, Jesse Barton stole second base after he was walked, and Travis Schindler laid down an ideal bunt to advance him to third. But the inning ended with Canton still tied up with Arcadia.
In the bottom of the inning, Arcadia stole second base with two out, and the throw went into leftfield, but Abillar tossed a throw home to Welch, who applied the tag, and kept the score tied at 1.
Unfortunately the Roos lost the first game 3-1.
The energy seen before and during the 1st game, however, did not die down:
Dom Deliberti pitched for Canton. With a runner on first in the 2nd inning, he struck out the second batter on a nasty curveball. Vinny Bondinello pounced on the ball and sniped down the runner on first base, who had strayed off the bag too far. It was an unconventional, but efficient, strike 'em out- throw'em out double play. One play later, Welch laid out and made an outstanding snag on a hard hit grounder to the hot corner. He fired onto firstbase to retire the final Knight of the inning. Derrick Machado started the inning for the Roos when he roped a pitch down the thirdbase line for a single. Chris Roenbeck absolutely destroyed a pitch off the right-centerfield wall for a double, which put two runners in scoring position. Christian Nazario-Cruz singled to bring in Machado. Matos singled to the exact same location as Cruz, in left-center, and brought in Roenbeck from third. Cruz then stole second base.
Jeremy Baez had a huge double through the shortstop hole, and plated Cruz. His hit also brought Matos around from second base to score as well. Dom made a great barehanded play on the first batter of the 5th inning when the hitter knocked a bouncing dribbler just off the mound. Dom gathered it in and fired a strike to Jones at first for the out. Defense was solid for the Roos in the remainder of the inning, as they backed Dom's pitching performance. Baez singled to the shortstop hole to lead the inning off for Canton. Welch advanced Baez all the way to third. Douglas was hit by a pitch to pump the bases full with no outs. Machado put a sac fly out to rightfield which scored Baez.
Travis Bigelow came into the game in the 6th to relieve Dom, and kept the Knights scoreless.
Matos continued to find a way on base by working a walk. Baez followed up by launching a 2 out double off the top of the left field wall, 360 feet away.
Keenan Shannon came in to pitch the 7th. Baez raced in and dove to catch a looping liner to rightfield. Shannon then snagged a liner that was hit back to the mound to close out the Knights, and seal the Roos victory and shutout.
ROOS WIN 5-0!!!!
The ride home from Myrtle was long, with many pit-stops. The ETA seemed to keep getting pushed back farther and farther. However, after over a week away, the Roos arrived in Canton around 10:00am on Monday. The trip was incredible, but it did feel good to be home.
The experiences that we were able to be a part of were amazing, and we will never forget the times we had together as a unit on this trip to Florida.
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| Beanz in Action |
