P.K. Yonge Baseball Wins 7-0 On Senior Night

The P.K. Yonge baseball team celebrated Senior Night with a 7-0 win Friday against Interlachen.

P.K. Yonge fans, family and school administrators packed Bobby Hawkins Field to show support for the 10 seniors on the team. Senior first baseman Nico Gomez-Vera even played the national anthem on his electric guitar.

Nico Gomez-Vera fires up the crowd by playing the national anthem on his guitar. P.K Yonge vs. Interlachen starts now.#espngainesville #senior #night pic.twitter.com/j42uekT0Yf

— Jesse Bratman (@jessebratman) April 26, 2024

Run-Saving Plays

P.K. Yonge shortstop Micah Gratto and center fielder Luke Sparkman prevented Interlachen from taking an early lead.

After a Cason Thomas leadoff single in the first, he was bunted over to second base. With two outs, Rodney Blackwelder hit a single up the middle. Gratto prevented the ball from going into center field with a dive, got up, and, as Thomas headed for home, threw a strike to catcher Mack Todd, who tagged out Thomas.

P.K. Yonge, which swept the two-game series against Interlachen (8-16), looked to score first in the bottom of the inning after pitcher Nick Roach doubled, but Rams pitcher Devon Williams was able to strike out Todd to leave the bases loaded.

The Blue Wave took a 1-0 lead in the second. Cooper Lieffers bunted to advance Charlie Tumminia, who reached on an error, to second. The bunt went to Williams whose errant throw past the first baseman put runners on second and third. Sparkman later drove in Tumminia with a single to right field.

The P.K. Yonge defense continued to shine. Lieffers made a diving catch in left field in the second. Sparkman threw a laser to Todd at home to nab Thomas and end the third after Blackwelder had hit a single to center with runners on first and second.

Luke “the nuke” Sparkman puts P.K Yonge on the board with an RBI single. 1-0 Blue Wave. pic.twitter.com/vbpqhjYvXJ

— Jesse Bratman (@jessebratman) April 26, 2024

Gomez-Vera started the bottom of the third with a double down the left-field line. Tumminia drove him in with a single to extend the Blue Wave lead to two. Then, with runners on first and second with two out, Gratto hit a two-run double to make it 4-0 P.K. Yonge.

Roach Continued To Dominate On Mound

Roach (4-4) had great command of the strike zone, allowing only one walk in 6.1 innings of shutout ball. He also struck out six and gave up six hits.

His defense continued to back him up in the fourth and fifth innings, with Gratto and Tumminia turning a 6-4-3 double play. Gratto also had a leaping catch at shortstop in the fifth.

Interlachen Pitching Collapses

Trace King replaced Williams in the sixth. After Sparkman reached on a fielder’s choice, designated hitter Josh Davis belted an RBI double to deep center. King walked the next two batters to load the bases before he was taken out. Landon McCollum was sent in to replace him, but he also had command issues, hitting two P.K. Yonge batters and walking another. The inning ended with P.K. Yonge up 7-0.

Seniors Recognized

After recording the first out of the seventh, Roach was taken out of the game and recognized for his P.K. Yonge career, along with the other senior starters. Davis closed the game with two strikeouts.

Seniors Roach, Sparkman, Gomez-Vera, Todd, Lieffers, Jaiden Hope, Deacon Northway, Jacob Steigleman, Matt Green and Aidan Long were celebrated before and during the game.

Up Next

The Blue Wave (16-6) host the Crescent City Raiders (7-13) at 7 p.m. Monday in the opening round of the 3A-District 4 tournament.

2024 FHSAA Baseball District Tournaments 3A District 4