The Ponte Vedra Sharks baseball season came to an end following a pair of losses on the road to Tallahassee Lincoln High as they got swept in the regional quarterfinal series April 23 and 24.
Sophomore C.J. McKenzie took the mound for the Sharks in game one and put forth a memorable performance pitching a complete game and giving the Sharks every chance to come out on top.
He allowed just two earned runs and scattered five hits along with four strikeouts and three walks over the six innings pitched, but unfortunately for McKenzie and the Sharks they could not take advantage of the runners they had on base during the contest.
The Sharks only scored one run despite outhitting the Trojans 10-5 and committing one less fielding error.
The majority of the Trojans hits came in the final inning, when they scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break free of a 1-1 deadlock to that point en route to winning the game 3-1.
A sacrifice fly by sophomore Maddox Tepper in the fifth inning brought in the only run for the Sharks.
It turned out that game one was crucial to the Sharks extending the series and coming back home for a possible game three scenario, because they were shutout 7-0 in game two the next day as the Trojans wrapped up the series.
This time it was the Trojans who did the outhitting, 10-4, which eventually resulted in a four-run third inning and the Trojans never looked back, adding three more insurance runs in the innings that followed.
Of the Sharks’ four hits, one was a double by Luca Candella, as Storm Lickliter suffered the loss on the mound.
The Sharks wrapped up successful season in many ways, including winning a district championship and finishing with a winning record of 15-11.
