Destin Marlins bomb Bruner Spartans (photos and video)
Not one, but two Destin Marlins ripped one out of the ball park Monday afternoon leading Destin a 14-2 victory over the Bruner Spartans in middle school baseball action.
Hayden Hubbard and Trey Wainwright both smacked two-run homers.
Hubbard, who was three for three, belted his homer in the second inning over the left centerfield fence.
“It was a fast ball,” Hubbard said, who has five homers for the season under his belt, two coming in preseason.
As for Wainwright, it was his first as a Marlin.
“It was an elevated fast ball,” Wainwright said of the pitch he took over the centerfield fence.
“We had some big hits today,” said Destin Coach Brian McDaniel. “When you throw it inside on Trey, he’s going to have his way with it.
“He got his hands up a little higher and was able to get on top of it,” he added.
Marlins with multiple hits were Wainwright with a triple and a homer for five RBIs, Jackson Crews with two singles, Hubbard with two singles and a homer for four RBIs, and Robby Rush with two doubles and two RBIs.
The defense did their part as well to secure the win.
“We pitched it. We threw strikes and we caught the ball, but they didn’t put many in play. We had a lot of punch outs, which always nice,” McDaniel said.
Christian Ford started on the mound for Destin and threw two innings. He faced seven batters, struck out three and walked one. Wainwright pitched the third and fourth innings, struck out two and gave up two hits. Hubbard came in and finished it off in the fifth, striking out two of three batters.
To start, Destin went scoreless in the first inning, but then exploded in the second with nine runs on seven hits. Ford and Rush hit back-to-back doubles with Kai Bailey, who was pinch running for Ford, scoring. Dalton Williams singled and Crews was hit by a pitch. Wainwright unloaded on the ball for a triple to right and three RBIs. Griffin Wilbur doubled for an RBI, then Hubbard clobbered a homer for two RBIs. Jackson Smith reached on an error and Benton Henderson singled; both scored for a 9-0 lead.
In the top of the third, Bruner scored one on a hit and an error.
Destin answered with two runs. Crews singled, Wilbur walked and both scored on a single from Hubbard.
Bruner scored one last run on a double in the top of the fourth.
Destin put the game away in the bottom half. Ford reached on an error and scored on a double from Rush. Wainwright then unloaded on a fastball for a two-run homer and Destin won 14-2.
“It’s a game we should win and it was a game we had to win to control our own destiny and go to the playoff,” McDaniel said.
With the win, the Marlins secured a spot in the playoffs, where they will face the Ruckel Rams at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Niceville.
“We played them tough last time,” McDaniel said. “We were a few dropped balls away from the game being interesting. You never know how they are going to react if you put a little pressure on those guys.”