BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Seven players drove in a run each, while three pitchers combined to allow five hits in the Union County High School baseball team’s 9-3 win over visiting Saint Francis on Feb. 13.
The Tigers (3-0) trailed 2-1 before scoring three runs in the bottom of the third. Mason Moore and Nate Robertson hit back-to-back singles, while Jeffrey Brugh walked to load the bases. Kendall Carter hit a one-out single to score courtesy runner Caiden Polinsky, while an Ayden Androlevich ground out allowed Robertson scored. Evan Christmas hit into a fielder’s choice that scored Brugh and put Union ahead 4-2.
Union put together another three-run inning in the fifth. The inning began with four straight singles from Androlevich, Christmas, Evan Roberts and Wesley Crockett. Courtesy runner Brezdyn Browning scored on Roberts’ hit, while Christmas scored on Crockett’s hit. After Robertson was hit by a pitch to load the bases, courtesy runner Jasen Sullivan scored on a Brugh ground out, making the score 7-2.
Moore, who drove in the game’s final run, finished 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI. Carter went 2 for 4 with an RBI.
Androlevich, Brugh, Christmas, Crockett and Roberts each had one RBI.
The first five innings saw starting pitcher Androlevich allow two runs (one earned) on four hits and one walk. He struck out seven.
Sullivan and Jack Johns each pitched one inning, with Sullivan closing it out in the seventh, allowing no hits, no runs and no walks.
Union opened the season with a 7-1 win over visiting Baker County on Feb. 10.
Brady Tetstone started on the mound, giving up no runs, three hits and one walk, while striking out five.
Guage Robinson threw 2.1 innings, giving up one run and no hits, while striking out three.
Christmas finished it out, allowing no hits.
Union got all the runs it needed in a three-run first. Carter and Erick Lasseter each hit an RBI single, while another run scored on an error.
Robertson scored three runs, going 2 for 3 with an RBI.
Brugh, Carter, Crockett and Lasseter each finished with one RBI. Crockett and Lasseter each hit a double, with Lasseter scoring one run. Carter scored one run, while Roberts scored two.
On Feb. 12, Lasseter drove in two runs as the Tigers defeated host Baldwin 4-3.
It was a 2-2 game through the first four innings. With two on and one out in the top of the fifth, Lasseter hit a ground ball to short that scored both runners.
Lasseter finished with three RBI in all, while Sullivan batted 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI. Carter also went 2 for 3.
Robertson scored two runs, while Browning and Brugh each scored one.
Browning had one of the team’s two extra-base hits with a triple.
The Tigers host Chiefland on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. and will host West Nassau on Thursday, Feb. 19, at 6:30 p.m. Union then travels to Alachua to play Santa Fe on Friday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m.
On Tuesday, Feb. 24, the Tigers host Nease at 7 p.m.
