St. Thomas Aquinas barrels its way into the Class 6A state baseball final
Teams can sometimes succumb to jitters when it's their first time playing at the state final four.
Not St. Thomas Aquinas' baseball team.
The Raiders were itching to get on the field Friday at Hammond Stadium.
And when they did, they barely stopped hitting.
Aquinas unleashed an offensive barrage in its first trip to state since last winning a championship in 2018, and routed Valrico Bloomingdale 15-0 in four innings in a Class 6A semifinal.
The Raiders (28-6-1) will next take on Gainesville Buchholz in the 6A state championship game on Saturday at 2. Aquinas is seeking its fourth state title all-time.
'We looked to this game with anticipation,' Aquinas coach Joey Wardlow said. 'We had a long last week after that regional final and during the week as we ramped up, we could feel the adrenaline.
'When we stepped out in that first inning, it went well on defense and well on offense and it took away any jitters we might have had.'
Junior center fielder Nico Sabatino was the tone-setter for the onslaught, roping a leadoff double to left off Bloomingdale starter Hayden Porter to start a five-run first inning.
Sabatino would later hit his eighth home run of the season on a solo blast to right field.
'My job is to get the team going,' Sabatino said. 'I saw that fastball and I took it. I was just in that flow state and now the offense is ready to go.'
Aquinas' power was a major reason it made it to Fort Myers this season as it hit 67 home runs entering the state final four.
'We kind of look at baserunners and barrels,' Wardlow said. 'If we get baserunners, somebody is gonna barrel up a ball. If they stay in the middle, they'll open it up. If we can get out front and just stack up one and another, we can hold teams down.'
Cole Lasher, who has seven homers this season, went 2 for 2 with a double and three RBI.
Andrew Alvarez, who has 13 home runs, went 3 for 3 with two doubles and two RBI.
And Zack Malvasio, who has hit a team-high 16 home runs, went 2 for 4 with two RBI.
'We just had to put it on them early and not let up,' Alvarez said. 'We had to keep that type of energy and not let up.'
Senior Thomas Giltner did the rest as he gave up two hits over four shutout innings and struck out two, sparing Aquinas from having to use any more pitchers before Saturday's final.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Chip Kelly: Not many humans have size and speed like Raiders rookie WR Dont'e Thornton
At the NFL Scouting Combine, former Tennessee wide receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr. opened a lot of eyes by measuring 6-foot-5 and running his 40-yard dash in 4.30 seconds. He was the tallest player ever to run that fast at the Combine. That led the Raiders to draft Thornton in the fourth round despite minimal production in college: He caught just 65 passes in four seasons of college football, two at Tennessee and two at Oregon. Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly says that a unique talent like Thornton can develop into a productive receiver, even if he hasn't done it yet. Advertisement "I think Dont'e is unique in terms of he's just a hair under 6-5 and he ran 4.3. There's not a lot of humans on this planet that do that," Kelly said, via "And I think if you had a draw up an outside receiver, you would pick that type of body type, someone that's got length, someone that's got a huge catch radius, but also has speed. Sometimes you can get a big guy like that, but he can't really run, so they can stay with him. So, you add that speed element to him, his ability to sink his hips, his ability to get in and out of cuts." The Raiders have a long history of valuing physical attributes like size and speed, and General Manager John Spytek said Raiders owner Mark Davis knows his father, Al Davis, would have loved Thornton. "Mark joked that was the Al Davis pick of this draft," Spytek said. "The height, weight, speed, raw traits, athleticism, speed, and I think it's just focusing on what he can do and what he can be. . . . You watch his target tape, I think it's pretty impressive. And we think he hasn't hit his ceiling yet." The Raiders think they added a uniquely talented receiver when they brought Thornton to Las Vegas.
NBC Sports
11 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Chip Kelly: Not many humans have size and speed like Raiders rookie WR Dont'e Thornton
At the NFL Scouting Combine, former Tennessee wide receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr. opened a lot of eyes by measuring 6-foot-5 and running his 40-yard dash in 4.30 seconds. He was the tallest player ever to run that fast at the Combine. That led the Raiders to draft Thornton in the fourth round despite minimal production in college: He caught just 65 passes in four seasons of college football, two at Tennessee and two at Oregon. Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly says that a unique talent like Thornton can develop into a productive receiver, even if he hasn't done it yet. 'I think Dont'e is unique in terms of he's just a hair under 6-5 and he ran 4.3. There's not a lot of humans on this planet that do that,' Kelly said, via 'And I think if you had a draw up an outside receiver, you would pick that type of body type, someone that's got length, someone that's got a huge catch radius, but also has speed. Sometimes you can get a big guy like that, but he can't really run, so they can stay with him. So, you add that speed element to him, his ability to sink his hips, his ability to get in and out of cuts.' The Raiders have a long history of valuing physical attributes like size and speed, and General Manager John Spytek said Raiders owner Mark Davis knows his father, Al Davis, would have loved Thornton. 'Mark joked that was the Al Davis pick of this draft,' Spytek said. 'The height, weight, speed, raw traits, athleticism, speed, and I think it's just focusing on what he can do and what he can be. . . . You watch his target tape, I think it's pretty impressive. And we think he hasn't hit his ceiling yet.' The Raiders think they added a uniquely talented receiver when they brought Thornton to Las Vegas.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Yahoo
Jed's NRL debut too emotional for Stuart family
Ricky Stuart was so emotional in the days leading up to his son Jed's NRL debut that he could barely speak to the Canberra winger. And so nervous was he about how his middle child would go against the Wests Tigers, the veteran Raiders mentor lost sleep thinking about Friday night's game. All the while, Jed was sleeping like a baby, having felt ready for his shot at the top grade for some time. THE DEBUTANT 🔥Raider #404 Jed Stuart scores on debut!#WeAreRaiders — Canberra Raiders (@RaidersCanberra) June 20, 2025 "He didn't talk to me much during the week," the 23-year-old revealed. "Every time he brought it up he'd get emotional. I'm just glad we got the win for him, he would have been so disappointed if we didn't. "The week was good. I found out last Tuesday because the boys had the bye and I had to know if I was playing Cup or not. "I had a week to process everything, tell the close family and get the messages from them and what-not. "I was more nervous about being nervous. Then, getting here I was just excited to get out there and play with the boys." Stuart Snr. need not have worried. Only on rare occasions in the lead-up did emotions take over for Jed. He had a sleepless night before Monday's jersey preparation, and there were tears before leaving home later in the week. But he was calm once getting to the ground, with 70 friends and family known to be attending the match and another bus coming up from Canberra. See the special moment Jed Stuart was presented with his first NRL jersey by his family in the lead up to his debut on Friday night. #WeAreRaiders — Canberra Raiders (@RaidersCanberra) June 16, 2025 "The only time I got emotional was when I went home just before coming to Campbelltown and mum gave me a hug to say goodbye," Jed said. "She said I'd been telling her that I wanted to play NRL since I was three years old, and 'now you're doing it'. "That got the tears going a bit." Jed's jersey was presented by his mother Kaylie rather than Ricky, while it was Raiders captain Joe Tapine who called the Raiders flyer to tell him he was debuting. On the field, Jed showed why Raiders players have been telling Ricky for months that the winger was ready. He caught an attacking bomb with his first touch, saved a 40-20 with a bat-back and scored a first-half try with a corner put down in the 16-12 win. It was at that point when the try was scored that Stuart Snr. admitted to the emotions of a dad briefly overtaking those of an NRL coach. "But then we had a game to win too, and I had to be the coach," Ricky said. "This week has been the hardest week I've had as a coach "From a father's point of view, I don't want him to be man of the match. I just want him to hold his own. And he did that. "I've been waking up 3am with some real bad thoughts, but he didn't do those tonight which was good." Both will now have it easier ahead of next Friday against Newcastle. "I was just happy to get one, I couldn't even dream of doing that," Jed said of his try. "I was just keen as, happy as, emotions running wild."
