Cocoa Beach, Merritt Island and Melbourne battled the rainy and windy conditions on Saturday, May 2, for Games 2 and 3 of the baseball regional semifinals.
Melbourne’s Game 2 at Lake Minneola in the Class 6A, Region 2 semifinals was suspended in the bottom of the fourth due to inclement weather. The game was set to be resumed on Sunday, May 3, with Melbourne leading 4-2. A win for the Bulldogs would force Game 3 immediately after.
Merritt Island and Cocoa Beach were both eliminated Saturday.
Class 4A, Region 4: Tough luck for Merritt Island
Top-seeded Merritt Island was on the brink of eliminating the defending state champions No. 4 American Heritage (Plantation) in Game 2, but a late rally forced a deciding Game 3.
In the early contest, the Mustangs led 1-0 on a fourth-inning RBI single by Grant Arnold. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, American Heritage hit a solo home run to tie the game. The Patriots walked off Merritt Island in the seventh on a bases-loaded walk to force Game 3.
American Heritage rode the momentum into the final game of the series and scored three runs in the first inning. It tacked on two more runs in the second and never squandered the lead in a 5-2 win.
Merritt Island finished the season with a 24-5 record.
Game 2
Merritt Island (24-4) 000 100 0 – 1 1 0
American Heritage (18-9) 000 001 1 – 2 6 0
Game 3
American Heritage (19-9) 320 000 0 – 5 6 0
Merritt Island (24-5) 000 101 0 – 2 2 1
Class 2A, Region 2: Cocoa Beach couldn’t complete comeback
After pulling off the upset on Friday, No. 4 Cocoa Beach trailed No. 1 Lakeland Christian for all of Game 2. The Vikings broke the game open with a 7-run sixth inning to close out a 13-3 win and force Game 3.
Cocoa Beach and Lakeland Christian traded runs for four consecutive innings in Game 3. Brayden Wyman opened the scoring for Cocoa Beach on an RBI single in the second.
The Minutemen retook the lead in the fourth on a passed ball that scored Cooper Janke. Lakeland Christian scored the final 2 runs of the game on an RBI ground out in the fifth and an RBI single in the sixth.
Cocoa Beach had runners on first and second in the seventh with one out, but back-to-back strikeouts ended a 3-2 win for Lakeland Christian.
Cocoa Beach ended the season with a 17-12 record.
Game 2
Lakeland Christian (20-4) 200 407 – 13 16 1
Cocoa Beach (17-11) 100 020 – 3 3 1
Game 3
Cocoa Beach (17-12) 010 100 0 – 2 6 1
Lakeland Christian (21-4) 001 011 X – 3 2 1
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Merritt Island, Cocoa Beach baseball eliminated; Melbourne rained out
Reporting by Sam Ficarro, Florida Today / Florida Today
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
