Port St. Joe High splits in baseball preseason classic

The Port St. Joe High Tiger Sharks opened the baseball season last week with a win and a loss in a Preseason Classic at Marianna High School.

The Tiger Sharks lost a slugfest to the host school 18-10 and overpowered Tallahassee Maclay 10-3.

Against Maclay the Tiger Sharks scored nine times in the first three innings, five runs in the first inning alone, to carve out an insurmountable lead.

Port St. Joe scored 10 runs on six hits, using aggressive base-running and timely hitting for the win.

Austin Howze walked, Tyler Worley doubled and a passed ball by Maclay got Port St. Joe on the scoreboard early. Tucker Smith, who drove in two runs, had an RBI single after Ricky Pennington had stolen home in the third inning, as the Tiger Sharks scored four runs to pad the lead.

The Tiger Sharks stole nine bases, Pennington and Smith with two each and Trevor Lang, Chase Wilder, Bryan Powell, Austin Clayton and Jesse Hyman all recording one steal.

Hyman pitched 2 1/3 inning of relief, allowing one run, to earn the win.

The Marianna game, Port St. Joe coach T.C. Brewer said, was a “battle of the bats.”

The teams combined for 13 runs in the first inning and 27 hits for the game. Port St. Joe was again plagued by errors, committing four miscues, just as against Maclay.

But Marianna made the Tiger Sharks pay, breaking open a game tied at 8-8 in the second with 10 runs over the next three innings.

Six Marianna batters accounted for 12 hits, 10 RBIs and 11 runs scored.

Hyman led Port St. Joe with a second inning double and sixth-inning single, driving in three runs.

Port St. Joe played at Springfield Rutherford on Tuesday and host North Bay Haven and Graceville on Friday at Shark Field.