It took two swings of the bat on Wednesday night for Hagerty’s Anthony George to hit the Huskies into the postseason.
George batted in all four of No. 15 Hagerty’s runs in a 4-3 victory over No. 6 Lake Brantley in the Class 8A, District 2 tournament’s semifinals.
George singled in a pair of runs in the bottom of the first and then in the bottom of the third he blasted a two-run homer that gave the Huskies (18-8) a lead they would not relinquish as they charged into Friday’s district final — and the FHSAA State Playoffs.
“He’s improved probably more than anybody else from freshman year until now,” Hagerty coach Jered Goodwin said. “The home run he got a pitch he could drive and did what he should do but the first [at-bat] was actually a curveball on the lower outside corner and [he] stayed on and hit it up the middle.”
Anders Marini got the start for the Huskies on the mound and the win, pitching five and a third innings and allowing three runs on six hits. Marini weathered a rough second inning where Lake Brantley pushed across three runs but was strong otherwise as Goodwin decided not to call in a reliever.
“He [Marini] actually shot me a text last night and said ‘I want this ball today,’” Goodwin said. “For a coach, for somebody to back it up like that — that’s why we do this.”
Ivan Countinho relieved Marini and picked up the five-out save and shortstop Ryan Mountcastle scored twice for the Huskies.
Lake Brantley ended the 2014 season with a 19-8 record. Tate Blackman’s doubled in the top of the second, driving in two of the Patriots’ three runs with Luis Olivier singling in the other run earlier in the inning.
Hagerty will face DeLand in Friday’s final at Sanford Memorial Stadium. The Bulldogs (19-10) defeated Spruce Creek, 8-1, earlier in the day behind a strong outing on the mound from Josh Dye.