ATLANTIC COAST- Oceanway had to wait a day to prove they belonged in the city championship. After going undefeated in the regular season, the Buccaneers defeated Fletcher to advance to the championship game. However, bad weather forced the title game scheduled for Tuesday, to be played on Wednesday.
It’s no secret, as a winners of the Duval County North Division, Oceanway is not known for playing the toughest regular season schedule.
So the team had something to prove going into their title game. And the extra day of wait and anticipation only added to the weight and determination they would display to defeat Mandarin 8-1 winning the Duval County Middle School Baseball Championship.
#1 Carson Renzi scores for Mandarin Andrew Hickey with the RBI . Hawks lead Oceanway 1-0 bottom of 2nd @MandarinHawks pic.twitter.com/3I2EWXW22q
— Duval Sports ™️ (@DuvalSports) May 23, 2018
Mandarin would strike first in the contest when #1 Carson Renzi scored on the #15 Andrew Hickey RBI.
It didn’t surprise third year head coach Eric Nelson, who saw his 11-2 team jump out early on teams all year.
“I’m extremely proud of our team, they play with no pressure because they play as a team, they play for each other,” Nelson stated.
Players like Casey King and Logan Yazdiya came up with a funny and motivational slogan for the team during the season ” We got that sauce”. The Hawks certainly had the sauce early in the championship game leading Oceanway 1-0 in the bottom of second.
In the bottom of the second, Oceanway would go on a scoring frenzy led by catcher Hunter Carns. Carns has been one of the leaders on the team not only in the batters box but behind the plate as well.
“He’s just been a wall behind the plate, and he’s thrown out any runner that’s tried to steal on him, it’s starts with pitching and catching for us,” Oceanway coach Vince Librandi said.
Carns, along with pitcher Lucas Grayson would score when Dylan Fontaine hit a triple to bring in the runners. Fontaine would score as well to give Oceanway a 3-1 lead going into the top of the third inning.
Hunter Carns scores for Oceanway! pic.twitter.com/4qcLE6Lljs
— Duval Sports ™️ (@DuvalSports) May 23, 2018
Dylan Fontaine scores the 3rd run of the inning for Oceanway to lead Mandarin 3-1 top of 3rd! pic.twitter.com/vpm0Lk19OQ
— Duval Sports ™️ (@DuvalSports) May 23, 2018
It’s been a total team effort for the Bucs this year and they displayed this in the championship game.
Along with bringing in runs Fontaine would also make a spectacular diving catch in left field to prevent a potential score by Mandarin late in the contest.
In the bottom of the third inning, #4 Kameron Davis would get a double on a big hit to left field. Ashton Edwards would get a nice hit as well moving runners up a base.
Next it would be Lucas Grayson again, with a shot to center field scoring Davis and Edwards to balloon the lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the third.
Kameron Davis scores for Oceanway pic.twitter.com/ft7NrqSZxF
— Duval Sports ™️ (@DuvalSports) May 24, 2018
Ashton Edwards scores! Gives Oceanway a 5-1 lead bottom of 3rd. pic.twitter.com/HhsV9IpodL
— Duval Sports ™️ (@DuvalSports) May 24, 2018
Grayson secured high praises from his coach.
“It starts with this man right here (Grayson) who pitched a heck of a game tonight, a heck of a game in the semifinal, he was our go to guy all season,” Librandi said.
Grayson only gave up two runs in two games against two of the best teams in the county. For his efforts he would be named M.V.P of the championship game.
Lucas Grayson knocks in Kameron Davis and Ashton Edwards to give Oceanway a 5-1 lead over Mandarin bottom bottom of 3rd pic.twitter.com/mBLsqqNFXQ
— Duval Sports ™️ (@DuvalSports) May 24, 2018
Oceanway closed out Mandarin with more excellent hitting and base running. Players like Dylan Cope, and Hogan Mims who both secured RBI on the evening, and Jonathan Gaines who got on base twice and scored twice for Oceanway.
In the end the Buccaneers would be too much for the Hawks of Mandarin, defeating them 8-1 to cap an undefeated 14-0 season.
