EMERSON, Ga. – Sean Osceola threw a complete game, shutout
for SWFL Nation 2018 against the St. Louis Pirates, as his team advanced to the
playoffs in the 17u WWBA National Championship. SWFL left fielder Connor Berry
walked with the bases loaded to score the game’s first run, and they tacked on
one more in the bottom of the sixth to cap a 2-0 win at LakePoint.
Osceola carved up the Pirates lineup all morning and punched
out nine batters over his seven innings of work. The 18-year-old allowed only three
hits, which amounted to four 1-2-3 innings, and he never allowed a runner past
second base. He was 81-85 mph with his fastball and commanded it on both sides of the plate. The 6-foot-2, 230-pound righty needed just 79 pitches to finish
off the game and seal the win for his team.
“Just getting ahead with my fastball and then when I got
ahead, curveball just to keep them off balance,” said Osceola on his approach
in the game. “The first three batters, they were really aggressive, so I liked
to start them off with a changeup or a curveball and then after that, I’d get
them guessing, so I’d just look fastball away.”
A first inning double was the only threat that amounted
against Osceola, as the Pirates would go down quietly from there. Head coach
Justin Karn said that Osceola has been their big game guy all season, and he
was not surprised at the performance.
“That’s kind of just typical Sean right there,” Karn said. “He
throws pitches with three strikes. He competes extremely hard. He’s the guy
every big game we know what we’re going to get out of him just because he’s
such a competitor and he has good stuff on top of it.”
While Osceola did his part on the mound, the offense needed
to do their part at the plate. They would mount an attack in the third inning
after Pirates started Hezekiah Goodman walked the first two batters of the
inning, before a third would reach on an error. Goodman would walk in a run
before being removed from the game. Although it was a great opportunity to add
on, Pirates reliever Nicholas Rocco came in and induced two flyouts to escape
the jam. One run would be all the team would need though, as the at-bat by
Berry proved to be a crucial moment.
“Their pitchers did a really good job of keeping us off
balance,” Karn said. “Threw a lot of strikes, and we’ve been pretty hot swinging
the bat, and they kind of shut us down a little bit there. We were fortunate to
put some balls in play when we needed to, and that’s just our approach
throughout the whole year so far.”
Another run would cross the plate in the bottom of the sixth
inning after Berry singled with one out in the inning. A walk to Kevin Szafran
would set up the stage for Matthew Cedarburg who hit an infield single to score
Berry.
“I saw that first fastball that I think I should’ve drove
for a double in the gap or something, but then I kept on battling, got another
fastball, fouled that one off, and then he came back with another fastball and
I just tried putting it in play, help my team out, and I got a hit out of it,”
Cedarburg said.
The run would provide insurance for Osceola on the mound,
who set the Pirates down 1-2-3 to lock down the win. Although he was cruising,
the run gave him that much more room for error.
“It made me feel really good for the seventh. I knew I didn’t
have to be too fine,” Osceola said. “I just let them put the ball in play and
then my defense can make the plays behind me.”
Winning that game was crucial for SWFL, who came into the
day tied with the Pirates for the best record in the pool at 4-0. They will
play in the playoffs that begin on Thursday morning, hoping to continue their
success on offense and on the mound. The Fort Myers, Fla.-based team has
outscored opponents 24-4 and have been bolstered by a hot bat by Danny
Cunningham, who is 8-for-13 so far at the plate. Cunningham said that he saw a
lot from his teammates on Wednesday morning and hopes that their winning ways continue.
“I saw a lot of grind,” Cunningham said. “We were up early
in the morning, we were supposed to play last night, but unfortunately rain hit,
so we were up early. We didn’t get the bats going like we usually do, but we
had had good pitching, good defense that helped us out a lot.”
Karn said that the team has each other’s backs and have good
chemistry. Knowing that his team has been in these situations before, he wanted
to see them just continue to go about their business, no matter where they end
up.
“Just keep doing what they’re doing,” Karn said. “Don’t look
at the situation like it’s bigger than it is, just play the game, play against
yourself, don’t worry about who is over there, just play against the ball, play
against yourself.”