BROOKSVILLE – Mason Stacy came into Friday night’s game at Emerson Field without a home run on the season, and it’s certainly debatable whether he should have left with one.
Regardless, there’s no arguing the impact of Stacy’s third-inning grand slam that allowed Nature Coast to take control over host Hernando, leading to an 18-1 victory in six innings.
“That was huge I think. Because we were having trouble hitting until then, and then right after that we just piled it on,” Stacy said.
The lopsided final belies the magnitude of the game, as it pitted the top two teams in the Class 5A, District 7 standings. The Sharks (14-3 overall, 9-1 5A-7) swept the season series with the Leopards (10-9 overall, 7-3 5A-7), giving them the head-to-head tiebreaker and allowing them to clinch the top seed in the district tournament.
“This is the first time in a while we’ve been first in the district and this feels great. Last year we were 6-15, so it’s flipped around,” Stacy said. “This is a great (Hernando) team, great pitching. We just showed that we’re one of the best hitting teams in the state, I think. We just showed how good we are at hitting and defense.”
Stacy, hitting in the cleanup spot, has been a huge key to a Nature Coast squad that was already averaging 7.4 runs and batting an even .300. The senior center fielder went 2-for-4 with a walk against the Leopards, driving in five runs.
Prior to the game, he had posted a .327 average, five doubles, two triples, 15 runs scored and 12 runs batted in.
“I’m not usually in the cleanup spot, actually. In travel ball I’m usually the one or two hitter,” Stacy said. “I’m getting a lot more curveballs. It’s actually helping me stay back more, which is really huge for me because I was having trouble with that. I feel like I’m progressively getting better at the four spot.”
“Mason is big because of the fact that he’s got to protect J.P. (Gates), and he’s been hitting all year long and J.P. has hit all year long,” Nature Coast head coach Frank Vitale said. “And he’s protected J.P. So they can’t kind of pitch around J.P. because they’ve got him. It’s an important spot for him to hit and he’s done a good job.”
Gates has been the headline-grabber for Nature Coast primarily because the sophomore southpaw can surpass 90 miles per hour on his fastball and has looked every bit the part of dominant ace. However, he’s also been a superstar at the plate, hitting .520 with 12 doubles, three homers and 28 RBI over the first 16 contests.
Though he did yield three hits, five walks, a hit batter and one earned run in five innings of work Friday, Gates struck out eight. He was also 2-for-5 with a double and five RBI, and his presence hitting third in the order has made Stacy’s job that much easier.
“It’s huge because I’m on deck knowing J.P. is going to hit a double, just because he does it just about every at-bat. I just think about ‘J.P. is going to be on second, let me just drive him in,’ and I know automatically he’s going to get on base because he’s so good,” Stacy said. “It gives me more confidence. I know that he’s going to bring in some runs; less pressure on me.”
Against the Leopards, the Sharks loaded the bases with one out for Gates in the top of the third. He ripped a fly ball right at the center fielder, and it appeared Nature Coast had wasted a prime opportunity when the runner at third did not attempt to score.
That brought Stacy to the plate, and he drilled a ball that hit near the top of the fence in left field and bounced back into play. The umpires, located in the infield, deemed that ball had cleared the fence before the ricochet, signaling a home run and drawing the ire of the home crowd for the remainder of the game.
“He started me out with a low, outside fastball. I was looking to see something flat down the middle. I had a feeling he was going to come with a change-up, so I just waited back and then pulled it,” Stacy said. “I’ll take it. My first home run.”
Even if Stacy’s hit had been called a double, two runs came across. Nature Coast added three more in the fifth, followed by 11 in a marathon sixth. A total of 16 batters and 11 different players came to the plate, with everyone in the starting lineup reaching base and scoring a run before the first out.
“I didn’t think it was going to be like this, that’s for sure,” Vitale said. “Tim (Sims, Hernando head coach) does a great job with his team, and I knew that their kids would be ready to play and I just tried to get my kids ready to play too, because we knew how big it was.
“We got a break on that grand slam-double. It should have been a double. It was a break, but sometimes the calls go your way. But after that, we just pounded it. No matter what they threw, we hit. So yeah, we got a break there, but we also added 14 more runs after that.”
The Sharks have positioned themselves to make a lengthy postseason run, and Stacy, who has signed with Division II Glenville State College in West Virginia, see a chance for a storybook ending to his prep career.
“A state championship of course, but just go as deep as we can,” Stacy said. “Win a district championship, of course, and then after that take it game by game and try to keep going.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.