The Union County (Lake Butler) baseball team got off to a good start in its home game against 2024 Class 1A state semifinalist Trenton on Thursday night.
Junior pitcher Erick Lasseter retired the first nine batters he faced, and the host Tigers scored the only runs they would need in the first three innings in a 6-2 win at Terry Stroemer Field.
“They’re a good team,” said Trenton coach Chris Marlo. “It’s a game of momentum. You can’t give them the momentum early. It’s hard to get it back then. Their pitcher did a good job of changing speeds and keeping our guys off balance.”
Union County, which is ranked seventh in the state in the FHSAA’s Rural classification, handed the No. 2-ranked Tigers (11-3) their first loss to a team in their own class.
“It’s a good win for us,” said Union County coach Jiwan James. “We needed it. I told the boys they’ve got to get up for it. I told them it was a big game, and they responded pretty well.”
The host Tigers (9-6) took advantage of an error and two walks in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead against Trenton sophomore pitcher Pierson Weatherilt (1 IP, 2 runs, 0 hits, 4 walks).
Lasseter drove in junior Jeffrey Brugh with a ground out to shortstop and senior Trenton Klein had an RBI ground out to score UNF signee Devin Diggs.
In the bottom of the third inning, Lasseter reached on a fielder’s choice and courtesy runner Evan Roberts, and Klein, who had walked, scored on a 2-RBI double by sophomore first baseman Kendall Carter for a 4-0 lead.
“We brought him (Carter) up from JV probably about four games ago and he’s been doing well,” James said. “He’s been getting on base for us right there in the 6-hole. We needed a little bit of help down there. He’s been a blessing for this lineup, helping us turn it over a little bit.”
The visiting Tigers finally broke through in the top of the fourth inning as sophomore Brant Bivens reached on an error by the shortstop, ending a streak of nine in a row retired by Lasseter.
Following a double play, senior University of West Georgia signee Jordan Marlo singled to right field, stole second, and scored on a single to left field by Weatherilt.
However, Union County answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth.
Everyone on the team reached base at least once for Union County, including No. 9 hitter Brezdyn Browning.
The sophomore doubled to lead off the fourth inning and scored, along with Brugh, who had singled, on a 2-RBI single to left field by senior Jake Walker for a 6-1 lead.
“It was a full team effort and that’s what we needed,” James said. “We can’t depend on one or two guys to get stuff done. I had a conversation yesterday at practice with the bottom of my order and I told them we can’t just depend on the top of the order. It has to be a team effort.”
Trenton junior Ty Moses singled to center field to start the top of the fifth, but Lasseter struck out the next three batters.
Lasseter threw 6.2 innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
“He had a great outing,” James said. “He’s been pitching well for us all season. The boys play with a lot more confidence when Erick is on the mound because we know that we’re going to be in every game, and we’ve got a chance to win. He came out and did pretty much what we expected.”
Moses (2-for-3) tripled with one out in the top of the seventh and pinch runner Chris Hampton scored the final run on a ground out by senior Brock Petrello.
With two runners on, Walker came in and got Bivens to fly out to left field to end the game.
Trenton will host Chiefland at 7 p.m. on Monday for a Rural-District 7 game while Union County hosts Class 1A No. 3 St. Joseph Academy (St. Augustine) (12-1-1) at 7 p.m. on Friday.
“That’s another big one tomorrow,” James said. “We went over to their place last year and we beat them over there. Another coach from the Jacksonville area was like ‘How did ya’ll do it?’ Hey, pitching and defense. If we throw it over the plate and play defense, we’ll be fine.”
