Vero Beach Outlasts Treasure Coast 4-3

Vero Beach held Treasure Coast scoreless for six innings while holding on to a slim, two-run lead. Undaunted and showing its tenacity, the Titans were three outs away from pulling off an upset Tuesday night in 9A-7.

After blowing their lead by allowing three runs in the top of the seventh, the Indians rallied from one-run deficit to win 4-3 and advance to Thursday’s championship against Fort Pierce Central.

Down 2-0, Treasure Coast led off the top of the seventh with Anthony Martens reaching base on an error. Matt Almeida walked before Kolby Marreel sacrificed to move them over. Austin Bramhall singled to left, scoring Martens, and then Jordan Salerno followed with a single to left to score Almeida and Bramhall for a 3-2 advantage. AJ Nieves’ sacrifice moved Salerno to second, where he was picked off to end the threat.

Kyle Stenger opened the bottom of the inning with a double, and Ryan Goodson reached on an error. Another error allowed Connor Bennett to get on base and pinch-runner David Enrico to score, tying the score at 3. Conner Smith’s line-drive single to left allowed Goodson to race home for the winning run.

David Luethje struck out 10 batters and allowed two earned runs on five hits while walking one in six and one-third innings. Hunter Cooley got the win in relief.

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