Bartow's state bid falls short in loss to Viera

Bartow’s bid to reach the baseball state tournament for the first time since 2002 came up a game short as the Yellow Jackets simply ran out of pitching.

Viera more than matched Bartow’s run production in the first two inning then pulled away for an 11-8 victory on Saturday night in the Class 6A, Region 2 final at Viera.

Bartow (20-12) actually outhit Viera (20-6), 9-7, but two Yellow Jackets pitchers combined to walk 11 batters and allowed runs in five of the six innings that Viera batted.

The Yellow Jackets scored four run in the first two innings but trailed, 5-4, after two innings. They trailed 7-6 going into the bottom of the fifth inning when Viera finally pulled away over the next two innings.

In the fifth inning, Bartow pitcher Robby Putnam retired the first two batters before getting into trouble. Logan Keith walked and Zachary Zulawski singled. Edian Espinal and Alex Sosa followed with back-to-back walks to bring home a run.

Viera added three runs in the sixth inning with the aid of back-to-back errors by Bartow. With the bases loaded, Lucas Glendinning reached base on an error on his fly ball to center that drove in two runs. Another run scored when Zulawski reached base on an error on his ground ball to shortstop.

Bartow tried to rally in the seventh. Dalton Ogilvie singled to lead off the inning, and Matt DelleDonne walked to force a pitching change. Ray McKinzy greeted Liam Samuels with a double to center to cut Viera’s lead to 11-8. Samuels, however, then retired the next three batters he faced to end the game.

Bartow couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game as Jonathan Vastine led off with a home run in the top of the first. Putnam followed with a double and later scored on McKinzy’s infield groundout.

Viera answered with two runs in the bottom of the first. Ogilive walked the first three batters he faced, and two runners scored on Samuels’ singled to make it a 2-2 game.

Rawley Stinson led off the second with a walk and later scored when Tyler Yates reached base on an error. Vastine then walked and Putnam singled to center to load the bases. Yates scored when Ogilivie grounded into a fielder’s choice, and Bartow led 4-2.

It was a short-lived lead.

Ogilive walked the first two batters in the bottom of the second and was replaced by Putnam, who struck out the first batter he faced. However, the next batter walked to load the bases. Sosa's sacrifice fly and Cole Teply’s two-run double gave Viera a 5-4 lead.

Samuels’ two-run single in the fourth inning gave Viera a 7-4 lead, but Bartow refused to go away.

After DelleDonne drew a one-out walk, McKinzy tripled to drive in a run. He scored on Grant Meredith single, and Bartow again trailed by a run, 7-6.