Saints Beat Polk State 4-2
Emanuel Fernandez struck out the final three batters with the potential winning run on base to earn his fourth save of the year and preserve the Saints 4-2 win in Winter Haven Monday afternoon.
Brooks Walton (4-0) allowed one run, five hits and two walks while striking out seven over the first seven innings. Devin Hemenway pitched a scoreless eighth and Fernandez finished up in the ninth.
"Walton pitched great again today," said SF head coach Johnny Wiggs. "He has put together a few of these now. Manny dug down deep there in the ninth when they had the bases load and no outs."
The Eagles (8-10) put together a rally in the ninth with a walk, a Saints error and two singles to score one run and load the bases before Fernandez struck out the next three batters.
The Saints scored all the runs they would need in the fourth inning when Chase Frady led off with a base-on-balls and moved to third on a double by Coy Phillips. JC Lovelace drove home the first run with a ground out and Jevin Relaford followed with an RBI single. Nick Herndon singled in Relaford later in the inning to make it a 3-0 score.
"We were able to bunch some hits together in the fourth," said Wiggs. "Sometimes when you are not swinging if great bunching a few hits together on one inning can be huge."
Herndon and Jonathan Logsdon had two hits apiece and Herndon had two RBI.
The Saints (15-4), presently ranked fifth in the state and 17th in the nation, will host TNXL Academy Wednesday at 3 pm and Kalamazoo Valley CC Friday at 3 pm before beginning Mid-Florida Conference play next week.
"We have been pitching pretty well lately and that is encouraging as we head into conference play next Monday," said Wiggs.
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