DOLPHINS AIM FOR RETURN TRIP TO STATE

Mosley will look to make its third straight trip to the state semifinals in Fort Myers Thursday night when it hosts Clay in the Region 1-6A Final at 6 p.m. The Dolphins (25-2) come in as champions of District 2 and the Blue Devils (19-11) as District 4 champions. The winner will open play in the state semifinals June 1 at the CenturyLink Sports Complex. The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday night, but inclement weather delayed the game by two days and also kept the Dolphins off the field as it continues to dry up after heavy rainfall. Field conditions have somewhat limited Mosley’s preparation for the game, though Dolphins coach Jon Hudson downplayed how much it would affect his team and said there might even be a silver lining to be found. “I really think we’ve made a lot of good gains swinging the bat because we’ve had to be in the batting cages the last three days,” he said. “Sometimes you get to focus more on your swing and tune things up a bit. I really think we’re going to come out and swing the bats well. We’ve played 27 games, so I don’t think it’s going to bother us defensively at all. If we come out and play the way we’re capable of playing, I think we’ll be in good shape.” The Dolphins have been dominant all season but appear to have raised their level even more in the last month, bouncing back from their second defeat – a 3-2 home loss to Lincoln – by winning their last four games by a combined score of 38-6. Mosley has outscored its two region opponents West Florida and Gulf Breeze by a total of 22-2 and out-hit them 22-10. Senior right-handed pitcher Nicky Agosto started and got the decision in both wins, allowing one earned run in nine innings on the mound. While Agosto has been good, he has been less effective in the playoffs than he was throughout the season, allowing 10 hits and 10 walks in the two games for a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) over twice that of his season average. Hudson admitted Agosto hadn’t been in his top form in the postseason yet, but he credited his senior ace for still finding a way to be effective. “He’s been good, but he just hasn’t had the breaking ball where we want it and really his location hasn’t been fantastic,” he said. “He’s just a competitor that pitches to win and he doesn’t necessarily have to have his best stuff to win games. He has changed a little bit of his preparation for this game, so hopefully we’ll get him throwing the 100 percent best he can throw tomorrow.” Agosto will face a Clay lineup featuring a pair of heavy hitters in Cole Escher and Tyler Spence, with the former leading the team with a .418 average, a 1.21 OPS, 33 hits, 36 runs, 25 RBI, seven doubles, two triples, two home runs, 23 walks, and 17 stolen bases. Spence is also having a fine season with a .376 average, a .915 OPS, 35 hits, 21 runs, 16 RBI, and six doubles. The Blue Devils also bring in a lot of speed on the base paths, having stolen 54 bases this season compared to 33 for Mosley. “They’ll steal second, steal third, even steal home,” Hudson said of the Blue Devils. “They sacrifice bunt, squeeze bunt, drag bunt, push bunt ... they do a lot of little things and feed off of mistakes on the other side. They’ve done a lot of damage being aggressive and putting pressure on the defense. That’s how they work. “We’ve been a great defensive team this year, so I don’t see that being a big problem for us. We just have to execute defensively against whatever they throw at us.” Clay will likely start 6-foot-3 right-hander Austin Burke on the mound, as the senior Burke has started the Blue Devils’ previous two playoff games. For the season, Burke is 9-3 with a 0.92 ERA and 53 strikeouts to 19 walks in 68 2/3 innings pitched. Clay could also go to junior right-hander Connor Solomon, who is 6-3 with a 1.63 ERA and 46 strikeouts to 24 walks in 56 innings. Whatever the Blue Devils throw at Mosley, Hudson said he knows this Dolphins team with 11 players who were a part of last year’s run to the 6A state final and five who played for the 5A title in 2015 will be ready. “These guys always play better when it’s the pressure games,” he said. “They’ve been there and done that. They always raise their level of play. I’m really not worried about the way we’re going to execute tomorrow. We’ll be ready to go. The guys are excited to get back on the field. We just have to go out there and take care of business.”

DOLPHINS AIM FOR RETURN TRIP TO STATE

Photo Credit: Patti Blake

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