Spanish River Ends Skid With 10-1 District Win Over Seminole Ridge

Seminole Ridge players get ready to take their first swings against Sharks starter Luca Rispoli.

Following a three-game losing streak, the Spanish River Sharks needed to rebound.

After the team blew a three-run lead late in a loss to Atlantic on Wednesday night, the players held a private meeting in an effort to regroup and refocus.

When the dust settled from Friday night’s District 10-8A opener against Seminole Ridge, it was clear that whatever was said had worked as the host Sharks cruised to a 10-1 victory.

“We talked as a team and we got our heads focused,” catcher Cody Meyer said. “We’re not feeling like that again. Everybody jumped on board tonight, and this is a big momentum swing.”

The Sharks (2-3, 1-0) scored in almost every inning, pounding out 11 hits and putting runners on base in every frame.

Leading the way for the offense was designated hitter Mark Jahrsdoerfer, who was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, three RBI, a stolen base and a run scored. It was Jahrsdoerfer’s deep double in the left-field gap on a perfectly executed hit-and-run that ignited the Sharks offense during a three-run third inning that broke open the game. He added another two-run double in the sixth to close out the scoring.

“You always want to win the first district game, and they played hard tonight,” Spanish River coach William Harvey said. “It was a nice atmosphere tonight, and the guys wanted to play well.”

Every Sharks starter reached base during the contest, highlighted by right fielder Ryan Berger, who reached base all four appearances in going 3-for-3 with a walk, a double, an RBI and two runs.

“Everyone came in and stepped up and it really sparked the team,” Meyer said. The leadoff hitter was 1-for-2 with an RBI single and a pair of walks.

The Hawks (3-3, 0-1) were not without their own chances, as several times they seemed to be just on the brink of jumping back into the game. But that big moment just never came.

“We couldn’t get that big hit when we needed it, and when we fell behind, we started pressing,” Seminole Ridge coach Trent Pendergast said. “We struggled with our arms, and without pitching, the wheels fell off the wagon. We have a lot of improving to do, but we’ll keep mixing and matching, and we’ll figure it out.”

The Hawks put runners in scoring position in the second and third innings, but each time, Spanish River was able to escape the jam.

Sharks’ starter and winning pitcher Luca Rispoli was a workhorse through six innings on the mound as 67 of his 102 pitches found the strike zone. As the big right-hander pounded the zone, the aggressive Hawks hitters were swinging away but oftentimes failing to connect as nine of Rispoli’s 11 strikeouts were on swinging third strikes.

Rispoli set the tone early with a 15-pitch first inning in which all three outs were on swinging third strikes. He then staked his own lead in the bottom of the first when he attempted to stretch a deep hit into a double and was caught on the play, which allowed Josh Bloom to come around and give the Sharks the 1-0 lead.

The Hawks finally pushed a runner across the plate in the fifth when Jason Moore sent a liner to center field for a leadoff single, then stole second and came in to score on a double by Robert Henderson that made it 5-1 and avoided the shutout.

“They came to play, and you can never take anybody lightly,” Harvey said. “We’ve never really played each other, but coach Pendergast is a good coach and they are a good team. We are still evolving, but we have to evolve quickly because we play Park Vista on Tuesday.”

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