The NJCAA #1/FCSAA #1 Santa Fe Saints moved closer to a Mid-Florida Conference title on Wednesday afternoon in Leesburg, defeating the Lake Sumter Lakehawks 12-6. Second place St. John’s River State College lost to the College of Central Florida in Ocala, making the Saints magic number one with four games to go. A win by Santa Fe (36-6, 17-3 MFC) in any of the next four games, or a loss by SJR (36-10, 14-6 MFC) would secure a Mid-Florida Conference title for the Saints.
The Saints staked themselves to a 6-0 lead on Wednesday, led by a two run homerun and a RBI double from Wyatt Meisterhans, and a RBI double from Cole Parks.
The Lakehawks fought back with a pair of runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth to chase SF starting pitcher David Lee. Santa Fe’s Haydn Cano broke the tie in the seventh, homering to make it 7-6. Meisterhans picked up his fourth RBI of the game with a sacrifice squeeze play to give SF an 8-6 advantage.
In the ninth Santa Fe padded their lead with a RBI single from Brandon Hernandez, a sac fly from Matt Allen, and a two run blast from Hugo Valdes to push the lead to 12-6.
Troy Bacon closed the game out over the final 2.1 innings in relief of Call Graham, picking up his 12th save and lowering his ERA to 0.51 in 35.2 innings pitched.
Kyle Phillips, Tyler Kinney, and Brandon Hernandez finished with three hits each and Wyatt Meisterhans was 2-for-4 with a homer, double, and four RBI.
The Saints will be back at home on Friday, April 15 with a chance to clinch a MFC title against Daytona State College at 3:00 PM. Watch live on the Saints Sports Network.
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