- April 24, 2024
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Matanzas southpaw Tyler Stuart was delivering bagels on a chilly Wednesday afternoon. Not literally, but figuratively.
Stuart tossed six scoreless innings, leading the Pirates to a 7-0 win over St. Augustine in the third game of the Rip-It Spring Break tournament. Stuart allowed just three hits and struck out six to help Matanzas (7-10) improve to 2-1 in the three-day tournament.
The win guaranteed that Matanzas would finish the tournament at .500, something Matanzas coach Rob Roe had set as a goal before the tournament.
“We played pretty well,” Roe said after the game. “I’m happy right now.”
Much of the damage was done early. Matanzas scored three first-inning runs behind a few St. Augustine errors. Matanzas added another two runs in the second and then tacked on two more in the top of the seventh.
St. Augustine finished with eight errors, which certainly helped the Pirates.
Shortstop Josh Alvarado went 3-for-4 with one RBI, and John O’Keefe went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Kamran Downs came on in relief to get the final three outs for Matanzas in the seventh.
Although Matanzas accomplished its goal for the tournament, Roe said he still is looking to see his team develop over the eight remaining games.
“On the field, I think we’re better talent-wise,” Roe said, comparing this year’s team to last year. “Mentally, we have a lot of work to do. I just think our mental game is just not where it needs to be.”
While improving the physical game is a matter of taking extra cuts in the batting cage or fielding more grounders, improving the mental game is a totally different beast. In fact, Roe said, it’s simply on the player to just “get it.” That’s a difficult thing to do, he said.
“It just goes back to who wants to work hard, who wants to not only have the physical game, but also the mental game as well,” Roe added. “The players have to understand that they have the talent, and that they need to use that talent to the best of their ability and understand that it’s a team game.”
Roe has always been an advocate of the team approach. And if his players can continue to buy in, perhaps they can accomplish another goal: Win 10 games.
No team in Matanzas baseball history has had a 10-win regular season, but with seven already etched in the W column, Roe likes his team’s chances.
“I think we still have a little bit of work to do,” Roe said. “I do everything I can to teach the team aspect. Hopefully they’ll realize sooner or later that they can’t do it themselves.”
