By Justin Burgess
Florida Area Scout

In what was a highly anticipated matchup between two of the better teams in the state, Sarasota ended up rolling over East Lake 8-0. The Sailors dominated the Eagles in all facets of the game but the contrast in pitching performances is probably what caught everyone off guard.

East Lake was starting one of their many tall, hard-throwing righties in 2016 Florida International commit, Christian James. James showed off his recognizable 87-90 mph fastball and sharp 76-79 mph curveball, but his usual control was just not there as he surrendered five walks in four innings. These walks were also compounded by a few errors that were committed by the Eagle defense.

As for Sarasota, their starting pitcher, Leo De La Torre (2016 RHP/1B), literally had a nearly flawless night as he threw a complete game no-hitter and only allowed one batter to reach base on a hit by pitch. De La Torre possessed pinpoint control with an 83-86 mph fastball and a solid 69-72 mph curveball that showed good depth.

The Sailors were able to strike early when 2016 C Grant Horowitz took advantage of having the bases loaded and roped a hanging curveball through the 3-4 hole for two RBIs. After James had somewhat settled down for the Eagles, Sarasota stepped on the gas again in the fourth inning when they took advantage of a couple of errors and scored two runs on a line drive up the middle by 2016 SS and Florida State commit, Nick Derr.

Even though five runs were more than enough for De La Torre, the Sailors added three more runs in the sixth inning. The first run came off a single by 2017 SS/2B Alex Arauz, Horowitz tacked on the second run with a sacrifice fly, and 2016 3B Adam Imwalle provided another single for the third run.

With the temperature dropping, fog continuing to build, and trailing by eight runs, East Lake had essentially lost all confidence and ended the game with three straight groundouts, sealing the no-hitter for De La Torre and the win for Sarasota.

Top Statistical Performances

Sarasota                                                                            East Lake
Leo De La Torre: 7 IP, 0 runs, 0 hits, 9 Ks              Christian James: 4 IP, 3 ER, 3 Ks
Grant Horowitz: 1-3, BB, sac fly, 3 RBIs                 Conor Churchill: 2 IP, 2 ER, 3 Ks
Nick Derr: 2-3, 2 BB, 2 RBIs                                       Bryce Moecklin: 1 IP, 0 runs, 2 Ks