In a battle of the pitching staffs, Cypress Creek came out on top taking a 3-1 win over Zephyrhills Tuesday night.
The highly touted Coyote hurler Evan Petry had major league scouts in attendance, but Bulldog freshman Mason Denmark was equally impressive allowing just three hits and two earned runs in 4 1/3 innings of work.
Mark Santiago and Reilly Perez pitched 2 2/3 innings giving up just two hits.
The Bulldog offense wasn’t productive enough picking up just three hits against three Cypress Creek hurlers. There were opportunities as the Bulldogs earned 10 base runners as a result of walks.
“Petry threw the ball well and we compete well,” said Zephyrhills coach Rusty Guynn. “When he left the game, we lost a competitive edge. Their relievers throw the ball well, but we should have hit them. We really gave it away. We had two base running mistakes that could have produced runs.”
The Bulldogs ended the game with an opportunity to win. Trailing by two, with the bases loaded and two outs, a hard hit ball to third by Bryan Santiago turned into a fielder’s choice and the final out.
The loss drops the Bulldogs to 3-2 on the season and will hit the road Friday to face Hernando in the final game before Spring Break.
“Mason threw the ball very well,” Guynn said of his young right-hander. “He has to throw his breaking ball for strikes more. He battled and hung in there.”