Falcons Soar to Victory over Saints, Bounce Back from Road Loss

The Falcons overcame an early deficit and never looked back. A 2-run blast to right center field by Santa Fe’s J.P. Herrholz put the Saints on top early in the top of the first inning. This lead did not last long as 6 foot 3, 206-pound, redshirt sophomore Devin Nowells drove a ball into the left center field gap, driving in Adam Parzych and Nate Cannizzaro, for his 25^th and 26^th RBIs on the year, knotting the score at 2-2.

Despite hitting the reset button on the score and looking to get out of the top half of the second without any damage, with 2 outs and the bases empty, Sante Fe’s Trey Bacon launched a deep fly ball that found the gap, and using that great speed, found himself on 3^rd base. Looking to spark a 2-out rally, he was quickly driven in by redshirt freshman catcher Logan Head, who poked a ball through the right side of the infield on an 0-1 count, to put the Saints back in the driver’s seat. This was the end of the road for the offensive production for Santa Fe, as they would only put up 1 more run in the 8^th inning.

After a scoreless second inning, the 3^rd inning was the frontier for what would be a plethora of hot bats stepping up to the plate. Parzych got his second hit of the game, boasting his average up to an astonishing .401 on the season. It then only took one pitch for the 2-hole hitter, freshman outfielder Sebastian Grafmyre, to put the Falcons back in it with an RBI single to right field.

After a pair of hits from Nowells, first baseman Mike Bumgardner drew a 5-pitch walk to set up a bases loaded opportunity for Scottie Edwards. On the 0-2 pitch he ripped a laser, which unfortunately found the mitt of Saints second baseman, Trey Bacon, to end the inning.

The next 3 innings were brief ones for the Falcons’ defense, surrendering no hits and only allowing one base runner, Herrholz, on a full count walk. The 5 foot 10, 181-pound infielder Charlie Pellicer got the bottom of the 4^th kickstarted with a smooth swinging single on the second pitch. After a sacrifice bunt by Daytona’s catcher Jaxon Junnila, Parzych contributed to his eventual 4-5 outing with an RBI single to give the Falcons the go-ahead edge, 4-3.

The 5^th inning was a feeding frenzy for the Falcons, who drove in 4 runs on 5 hits. After yet another base hit from Nowells, whose 3-4 outing bumps his season average up to a steady .257, Bumgardner stepped up to the plate. On the 0-2 fastball to Bumgardner, he sat back, put a gorgeous swing on the ball, and sent it over the right field fence for his team leading 6th home run of the season, and cashing in his 27^th and 28^th RBIs on the campaign.

Edwards put himself in the hit department with a bases empty double and was driven in by Charlie Pellicer, his second hit in as many innings. A routine single from Parzych then turned into a hectic situation for Santa Fe. Parzych dug deep into the ground to beat out the ground ball for an infield single. However, Pellicer got a great jump off the base, and once he saw how long it took the Saints first basemen, Herrholz, to collect himself, he took off for 3^rd. Herrholz then wildly threw the ball away, allowing for Pellicer to touch all 4 for the second time in the contest.

That was it for the Falcons on the offensive side on the ball. On the bump, starting pitcher Austin Harford, the freshman right hander from Sarasota, was dominant. Despite facing early troubles, he settled into the game, retiring 12 of the last 13 batters he had faced, only allowing a walk back in the 6^th inning. Harford tossed 7 complete innings, with a final line of 3 runs, 4 hits, 3 walks, and 5 strikeouts while facing 27 hitters. The 6-foot,180-pound freshman advances his record to 7-2, and lowers his ERA to 5.08 through 27 total appearances, over the course of 62.0 innings.

Noah Palmese, the big hard throwing right-handed sophomore, came in to finish the job in the 8^th and 9^th, and he shut the door. Despite giving up a solo home run to Santa Fe’s Josh Hogue, the lone hit surrendered, he struck out 4 of the 7 batters he faced, painting the corners of the zone throughout the entirety of his outing. His ERA is now lowered to a team best 4.47 over the course of 52.1 innings spanning over 17 different appearances.

With a score of 12-4, the Falcons improve their record to 17-25 on the season, with a conference record of 3-18. Not the season that the Daytona squad was looking to get, but these are the games that give a club optimism and hope for the future. Being 2-8 in their last 10 games, they’ll look to end the season on a positive, hoping to finish their regular season on a 3-game winning streak.

The Falcons next contest will be Monday, April 24^th, where they look to take on the Seminole State College of Florida Raiders, who are right in the middle of the pack with a record of 25-25, with a conference record of 7-14. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM, right back at the Daytona State campus.