Port St. Joe Pulls Away from Liberty County
May 9, 2019
PANAMA CITY, FL - The 1A District 4 Tournament continued last night with 2-seed Port St. Joe taking on The 3 seed, Liberty County. Liberty beat Wewahitchka 5-3 in the District Quarterfinal on Monday to advance and take on Port St. Joe, who had a bye.
In a win-or-go-home game, PSJ sent Junior RHP John Gee to the mound to face off against RHP Brice Dillmore for Liberty County. Dillmore (uncommitted)who has been up to 92 on the mound this season and usually sits around 87-89, has had many looks from coaches and scouts.
It looked like it was going to be a long day for Port St. Joe as Liberty Co. struck first on a pitch that was punched down the right field line by first baseman Aiden Hirsch for a two-run single and a 2-0 lead before Dillmore even took the mound. However, Dillmore clearly wasn’t on top of his game. He got through the first unscathed, giving up one hit and recording two strikeouts but was 83-85 and not showing much command with the breaking ball.
PSJ capitalized and jumped all over Dillmore in the 2nd inning. The Tiger Sharks tagged him for 7 runs on 7 hits as he only recorded one out before being removed for SS Brady Peddie, who was able to get a ground out and fly out to end the inning. Dillmore finished with a line of: 1.1 IP/ 7 R/ 8 H/ 3 K/ 1 BB.
Gee was cruising after a rough first and played damage control most of the day. After PSJ added another run in the 5th, fueled by a Jaden Grantland triple, Gee went into the 6th with a 8-2 lead. After a leadoff single and back to back walks for the Bulldogs, catcher Austin Waller hit a bases clearing double to the right field wall making it 8-5. But there would be no comeback in store, as PSJ would go on to put up 5 runs in the 6th and pull away for a 13-5 victory. Gee finished the game out and went: 7 IP/ 5 R/ 3 ER/ 12 H/ 6 K/ 3 BB. Port St. Joe advances to the District 3 Championship game for the second straight year where they will take on No. 1 Bozeman in a rematch from last season.