Insider notes from Florida baseball’s 8th fall scrimmage

Florida baseball held their 8th open scrimmage of fall on Friday, October 25th inside Condon Ballpark. The Gators are preparing for two fall exhibitions against Jacksonville (Nov. 1st) and USF (Nov. 10th).

Gator Country provides you our insider notes from Friday’s six inning scrimmage.

LINEUPS / BOX SCORE

Team Orange

1.  CF Kyle Jones (1-3, 2 RBI, SB, R)
2.  SS Colby Shelton (2-2, 2 RBI, HR, 1 2B)
3.  2B Cade Kurland (0-2, BB, K)
4.  C Brody Donay (0-3, K)
5.  LF Blake Brookins (0-2, BB, R, K,)
6.  RF Ashton Wilson (1-2, 2B, BB, SB, R,)
7.  3B Kolt Myers (0-1, RBI, BB, R, K)
8.  1B Cole Bullen (1-3, RBI, R)

Pitching

R-SO RHP Jake Clemente: 3.0 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K

SO RHP Luke McNeillie: 3.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K

Team Blue

1. 2B Justin Nadeau (0-2, K, BB)
2. CF Blake Cyr (1-3)
3. RF Ty Evans (0-3 K)
4. C Luke Heyman (0-2, BB, K)
5. SS Bobby Boser (0-3 K)
6. 3B Brendan Lawson (0-2)
7. 1B Caden McDonald (0-2)
8. LF Brock Clayton (0-2)

Pitching

SO RHP Liam Peterson: 2.0 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K

FR LHP McCall Biemiller: 1.0+ IP, 5 R, 3 H, 4 BB, 1 HBP, 2 K

FR LHP Niko Janssens: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 

– Team Orange won 6-0 after six innings of play.

– It was an exciting scrimmage simply because we saw Liam Peterson and Jake Clemente pitch, two front runners for a weekend spot in Florida’s rotation. Peterson tossed a scoreless first before running into some trouble in the 2nd after a leadoff walk. Still, he limited damage and only allowed one run in two innings pitched while picking up two strikeouts. It wasn’t an efficient outing for Peterson, who worked a full count on at least three batters. He was struggling to work ahead in the count early in innings but settled down as the inning progressed.

– RHP Jake Clemente was fantastic in his three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk. Clemente primarily throws a two pitch mix: fastball, slider. His fastball was sitting 95-96 MPH today while his slider was coming in at 84-86 MPH, which tends to draw a lot of swing and miss. Clemente can locate both of his pitches for strikes, as he did today. Clemente is coming off a great summer in the Cape Cod League where he was named an All-Star after posting a 3.00 ERA in 27 innings pitched. Clemente’s continued development is making him a strong candidate for a weekend spot in Florida’s rotation.

– Team Orange scored five of their six runs in the 4th inning off freshman LHP McCall Biemiller, who held team blue scoreless in his first inning of work. The lefty struggled finding the zone, allowing five free passes while recording just three outs. He didn’t record an out in the 4th inning and the inning was called after five runs (they can do that in a scrimmage.)

– INF Colby Shelton recorded two extra base hits including a two-run blast to left center and a hustle double to center field. This is Shelton’s second consecutive scrimmage with a home run.

– OF Ashton Wilson made plays at the plate, in the field, and on the base paths today. He hammered a 94 MPH heater from Liam Peterson to the opposite field for a stand up double in his first plate appearance. He made a diving snag in right field to rob freshman Brendan Lawson of a knock and stole a bag in which he later scored.

– Stetson transfer Kyle Jones participated in live at bats for the first time this fall and immediately looked the part of a leadoff batter. His lone hit was a two RBI double down the 3rd base line. After reaching base via HBP for the first time in the scrimmage, Jones immediately stole second base with ease. Florida hasn’t had a guy with Jones’ base running skills in quite some time under Kevin O’Sullivan. He can also cover a lot of ground in center field, which was evident during Friday’s scrimmage.

– Miami transfer Blake Cyr made the catch of the day in center field, leaving his feet for a ball in the gap off the bat of Cade Kurland. He also recorded the only hit of the day for team blue, a line drive single up the middle. Cyr was primarily an infielder for the Hurricanes, but projects as a left fielder on Florida’s roster.

–  SO RHP Luke McNeillie was nearly flawless on the mound today, with his lone blemish being a singular walk in his three innings pitched. McNeillie was in control the entire time, working ahead of batters by bending his breaking ball in for strikes early in the count.

– The most effective pitcher for team blue today was freshman LHP Niko Janssens, who recorded two perfect innings in relief while picking up one strikeout. Janssens command was admirable for a true freshman. His unique delivery gave Florida’s offense some troubles as they weren’t able to generate much solid contact off the left hander. Janssens sat 92-93 MPH while topping out at 94 MPH, plenty of velocity for three quarters arm slot delivery.