High school baseball: South Lake outlasts Leesburg in extra-inning thriller

LEESBURG — The South Lake High School baseball team is a work in progress.

The Eagles have battled inexperience – oftentimes playing only two seniors on the field at a time – and the inconsistency that goes along with that for much of the season, particularly at the plate.

It’s getting late; only three weeks and nine games remain in the regular season for South Lake. Still, manager Eric Leitner is hoping his young team can find its stroke in time to put together a postseason run and Monday’s game against Leesburg showcased the Eagles’ potential.

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Three pitchers combined on a four hitter and the offense came alive late with a pair of runs in the eighth inning to lift South Lake to a 3-1 win over the Yellow Jackets at Pat Thomas Stadium-Buddy Lowe Field.

With the win, South Lake improved to 6-10 on the season. Leesburg fell to 4-10.

“We struggled at the plate for much of the game, but we have to give (Leesburg pitcher Jacob Moore) a lot of credit for that,” said Leitner. “He did a good job keeping us off balance and getting us to swing over the top and hit a lot of fly balls. But, our pitchers kept us in the game and our guys kept fighting and got some good swings late, especially in the eighth inning.

“I’m proud of my guys. They’re working hard and they have never quit on each other. They’re fighting so hard to find the consistency they need to be successful and (Monday) was proof of that. I’ll never stop believing in my team.”

South Lake’s game-winning rally started after Moore had retired the Eagles' first two hitters in the eighth.

Joey Bustos reached on an error. He raced to third on a single by Dawson Kirkland, who advanced to second on a fielding miscue.

Ethan Stephens then ripped a double to the gap in left center, easily scoring Bustos and Kirkland with game-winning and insurance runs, respectively.

In the home half of the frame, Bustos, who came on in relief in the seventh inning, retired the Yellow Jackets with only a two-single to pick up the win. Bustos allowed only one hit over two innings.

Three South Lake pitchers – starter Robert Tracy, along with Rylan Henderson and Bustos in relief – combined to strike out 10, including six by Henderson in four innings of work.

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Moore, who tossed a complete game, took the loss. He pitched well enough to win, allowing seven hits and striking out seven, and only one of the three runs charged to him were earned.

Leesburg took an early lead in the third inning. Carson Sustarsic greeted Henderson with a walk and advanced on a single to right by Anthony Niglio. Following a popout, Aiden Sustarsic hit a grounder to short that forced Brady Curtis, who was running for Niglio, at second.

However, a throwing error following the force out, allowed Carson Sustarsic to score the game’s first run.

South Lake tied the game in the fourth when Kirkland singled and was sacrificed to second by Stephens. Stephen Bennett then followed with a two-single to right, scoring Kirkland with the tying run.

South Lake had an opportunity to avoid extra innings in the fifth. Marcus Mercado led off with an infield hit and stole second. He advanced to third on a ground out, bringing up Parker Trowbridge with the lead run 90 feet away.

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Trowbridge lofted a fly to center the Tyran Hepburn ran down for the second out of the inning. Mercado tagged on the catch and raced to the plate, but Hepburn’s throw was perfect and Niglio applied the tag to snuff out the rally.

Niglio paced the Yellow Jackets' offense with two hits. Aiden Sustarsic also reached base twice.

For South Lake, Bennett and Kirkland had two hits apiece. Bennett and Bustos reached base three times.

Leesburg is traveling to Deltona Tuesday to play Pine Ridge and will host the Panthers Friday Pat Thomas Stadium-Buddy Lowe Field on the backside of a home-and-home series.

South Lake will play at The Villages Tuesday and will host East Ridge at 5 p.m. Thursday in a doubleheader at Eagles Field. The first game will be a resumption of a suspended game from earlier in the season followed by the originally scheduled game.

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: HS baseball: South Lake outlasts Leesburg in extra-inning thriller