Merritt Island falls to South Walton in FHSAA 4A baseball semifinal

A first-inning home run put Merritt Island High's baseball team in a hole it could never escape on Tuesday at Hammond Stadium in Ft. Myers, ending the team's season in the FHSAA Class 4A state semifinal round, 7-3.

South Walton's Charlie Willcox hit a three-run home run for the Seahawks, and the Mustangs never got closer than a run from there, finishing their season at 24-6. It was the 10th win in a row for South Walton, which improved to 21-10 and will face Cardinal Gibbons for the title. In Tuesday's first semifinal, Cardinal Gibbons defeated Mulberry, 3-2.

Merritt Island twice drew within a run in its game and had the tying run at second in the bottom of the sixth but could not bring it home. Then, two errors in the bottom of the inning aided in the Seahawks pushing their lead to four on a hit to left field with two outs and the bases loaded.

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Both Hudson Blank and Liam Miller recorded two hits and an RBI for the Mustangs. Robert Myer also drove in a run.

Miller's RBI came in the fifth. After a Dean Hanselman hit and Jacob Loeffler walk, Blank singled up the middle to the cut the Mustangs deficit to 4-3. Merritt Island stranded two from there.

Myer singled to right center to drive in a run in the fourth. Then Miller bunted home a second run the next at bat to make it 3-2 with two outs. In the bottom of the inning, a Seahawks hit into the left field corner pushed the margin back to 4-2.

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A double play erased a leadoff third-inning walk by the Mustangs, and South Walton kept Merritt Island scoreless. Blank got the first Merritt Island hit in the top of the first, and Miller hit safely in the second, but neither led to runs.

Viera High lost in the Class 6A semifinal round last week, 8-0 to Dwyer, which went on to win the championship game over Buchholz, 10-3.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Merritt Island falls to South Walton in FHSAA 4A baseball semifinal