St. Thomas Aquinas run-rules Bloomingdale in 6A state baseball semifinals

State playoff roundup: Canterbury wins Class 1A state title, and Holmes County wins Rural Class

Nico Sabatino leads off first inning with double that jump-started St. Thomas Aquinas' lopsided 15-0 win against Bloomingdale in the Class 6A state semifinals. / Joe Frisaro

FORT MYERS, FLORIDA – Run production has not been an issue for the St. Thomas Aquinas baseball team.

The Raiders, after all, average 9.3 runs per game, and routinely post double-digit wins.  

So it’s not unusual to see St. Thomas scoring runs. What wasn’t expected on Friday was the way the Raiders easily handled the Bloomingdale Bulls in the Class 6A state baseball semifinals.

After all, these are the state playoffs, where pitching tends to take over.

But St. Thomas came out swinging, and didn’t relent in a 15-0 mercy-rule victory at Hammond Stadium.

Zico Sabatino doubled, homered and scored three times, and Andrew Alvarez added three more hits and runs.

With right-hander Thomas Giltner tossing four shutout innings, the Raiders closed out Bloomingdale in a game called after four innings.

According to the mercy rules, if a team is up by at least 15 runs after four innings, the game is over. The more commonly seen mercy rule is teams leading by at least 10 runs after five innings.

In the fourth inning, Josh Jennings’ RBI single ended the lopsided contest.

St. Thomas (28-6-1) advances to the Class 6A state championship game on Saturday against Buchholz (33-2) at 2 p.m.

Buchholz moved on to the title game after beating Wharton, 3-0, on Friday.

Playing for the first time in six days, the St. Thomas hitters showed no signs of cooling off.

The Raiders have one of the most productive offenses in the country, evident by the fact they’ve belted 68 home runs, and have 157 extra-base hits.

As the No. 2 seed, St. Thomas was the home team on Friday. After Giltner worked around a Bloomingdale single in the first inning, the Raiders raced out to a 5-0 run lead after one inning.

Sabatino started things off with a two-strike, opposite-field double. Jonathan Lopez followed with a run-scoring hit, and the Raiders didn’t let up.

Zack Malvasio drove in two runs, while Cole Lasher chipping in with a double and three RBIs.

Alvarez had an RBI double in the first inning.

St. Thomas pounded out 15 hits, with four doubles, and Sabatino’s home run.

Bloomingdale starter Hayden Porter worked two innings, giving up eight runs, with seven being earned, on eight hits.

Jennings’ fourth inning RBI single ended the game in a briskly-played 1:31 minutes.

In the first Class 6A semifinals game, JJ Gardner threw 4 1/3 shutout innings with seven strikeouts.

CLASS 1A FINALS

The first four hitters in the Canterbury lineup combined for six hits, four runs and three RBIs on Thursday night. And after building an early lead, the Cougars went on to win the Class 1A state championship with a 6-2 win against St. Johns Country Day.

St. Johns Country Day was seeking to repeat as state champions, but the Spartans trailed 4-0 after three innings and was held scoreless until the fifth inning by Anthony Meady.

Canterbury reliever Anthony Tenuto struck out five and allowed one unearned run in two innings to close out the Fort Myers-based school’s state title.

Noah Keifer set the tone at the top of the order, with two hits and two runs. Brayden Habuda added a hit and two runs, while Ever Silvente had two RBIS and Meady added two hits and drove in a run.

Brayden Harris and Nick Bowden each had RBI hits for St. Johns Country Day.

Ethan Bissell worked three innings, giving up four runs with three being earned.

The Spartans were charged with three errors and of their six runs allowed, four were earned.

RURAL CLASS FINALS

The Holmes County Blue Devils walked-off Lafayette, 2-1, on Thursday to capture the Rural Class state championship.

The score was tied at 1 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, before the Blue Devils celebrated a state title.

Lyndan Flanary had two hits, an RBI and a run scored for Holmes County. Colby Powell drew two walks and scored a run.

On the mound, Bradley Garrett threw a complete game, giving up one run on five hits while striking out five.

For Lafayette (25-2), Hyatt Richardson threw 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, with just one earned.

Garrett Taylor had a hit, and a walk and scored the lone run for the Hornets. Ethan Tuten chipped in with a double.