The temperature may be cold, but the Destin High Sharks’ bats are hot.
To start the week playing in 40-degree weather, the Destin High baseball team has posted two big victories with some big hits.
On Feb. 23, the Sharks traveled to Pensacola to take on the North Bay Haven Academy Buccaneers at the Blue Wahoos minor league stadium. The Sharks beat the Buccaneers 18-3 on the big-league field.
Destin connected for 16 hits in the five-inning win, with senior Shark Palmer Robbins leading the way with three hits for two RBIs, including a triple and a bomb that cleared the left field wall.
“It feels pretty surreal,” Robbins said the day after.
With a 1-1 count, Robbins said he smacked a fast ball.
“It felt pretty good … I knew it was going off the bat,” he said.
The distance was about 365 feet at Blue Wahoos Stadium, while the Sharks’ home field is 300.
“For sure, that’s the biggest ever,” Robbins said of the home-run blast. It was also his first of the season.
Robbins was not the only Shark to connect for multiple hits.
Brody Ray had two hits for two RBIs, Coleman Grelle hit a triple and a single for an RBI and Jaxx Emmert had two hits for an RBI.
The Sharks managed to put the Buccaneers away in five innings.
Senior pitcher Caleb Wright got the win with three innings pitched, five strikeouts, three hits, three runs and four walks. Freshman Hunter Ray pitched two innings, gave up two hits and no walks.
On Feb. 24, the Sharks hosted the Rocky Bayou Christian Academy Knights at Morgan Sports Center and sent them packing 10-0 in five innings.
The Sharks connected for six hits. Brody Ray led the effort with three hits and two RBIs. McCarver Dahlman ripped a single for two RBIs, while Bryson Perkins and Jaxx Emmert each had one hit.
“We’re just putting the ball in play,” Destin Coach Scott Hemond said.
“We seemed to be playing good defense. We’re pitching well and playing good defense and keeping the walks down and making the plays,” Hemond said.
The Sharks used three pitchers with Jaxx Emmert, a sophomore, taking the win. He threw three innings, gave up one hit, one walk and struck out five. Freshman Graham Herndon pitched the fourth inning and gave up one walk and struck out two. Coleman Grelle, a junior, closed out in the fifth giving up no hits or walks.
Destin got on the board with three runs in the first innings on two hits. In the bottom of the third, the Sharks added six runs on three hits to go up 9-0. They scored their last run in the bottom of the fourth.
“The guys are playing well,” Hemond said.
With the two victories, the Sharks move to 5-1 on the season.
This article originally appeared on The Destin Log: Destin High bats are hot, securing two big victories
Reporting by Tina Harbuck, The Destin Log / The Destin Log
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
