BROOKSVILLE - Springstead has made a habit of bailing out its poor starting pitching with timely hitting this season. But the Eagles' bag of tricks ran out against county rival Central.
The Bears defended their home field valiantly against Springstead on Thursday night in a 14-7 win.
Eagles starter Tom Dwyer (1-2) began the game tossing the ball well enough, surrendering only one run in the first two innings. But Dwyer unraveled in the bottom half of the third, giving up seven runs, six of them earned, to the Bears lineup. Central hit around the lineup in the outburst.
On the other side, Central starter Jason Nicolini (2-0) pitched three and a third innings of shaky ball, but was good enough to leave with an 8-4 lead.
It was a lead the Bears never relinquished thanks to the batting heroics of second baseman/relief pitcher Cam Kick. Kick drove in five runs and scored one in a 2-for-4 effort with a double.
Kick also gets credit for his lights-out work in relief of Nicolini. The young pitcher came in and shut down the Eagles lineup for three innings, giving up three earned runs and striking out four along the way.
Bryan Nicolini finished the job for the Bears, striking out one batter and getting another to fly out, to cement his brother's second win of the year.
The win gave Central (4-6, 1-1) its first victory in Hernando County Athletic Conference play. Springstead (5-5, 1-1) suffered its first conference loss.
