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Tournaments  | Story  | 5/27/2023

Original Florida Pokers Dominate in Win

Hannah Jo Groves     
Photo: Original Florida Pokers (Pokers Baseball)
The Original Florida Pokers gave a dominant performance against Top Prospects National in the 12-0, run-rule victory.

The Pokers only got through their first few pitches during their game on Friday due to inclement weather that ended up cancelling and delaying many games in the 2023 East Memorial Classic. But with the sun out on Saturday, the Pokers showed they were ready to get summer ball started.



“Summer’s the time for the kids to really be seen by the college guys,” Pokers’ head coach, Todd Fitz-Gerald said. “As a coach, my job is to promote as many kids as I can to other schools and universities to what’s a good fit for them and hopefully get them committed by the end of the summer.”

The Pokers showed they were ready to put themselves on display with strength on both sides of the ball. Pitching was strong for the Pokers, as Dane Rossi threw 32 pitches and allowed no hits. EJ Burns, second baseman for the Pokers, had three RBI, two hits and two runs on the game.

“I’m just looking for a fastball,” Burns said. “That’s usually my approach - I go for everything with a fastball, especially with summer - just trying to stay going on opposite field with the fastball.”

Both the Pokers’ and Top Prospects National’s defenses started strong in the first inning. The second inning was when Top Prospect’s pitching started to weaken and the Pokers took advantage of errors by the Prospects - getting three runners back home, then five in the third inning, and four in the fourth. Along with Burns’ three RBIs, Niko Benestad and Gavin Gargiulo both contributed two with Gargiulo getting two RBI singles and Benestad getting a RBI single and double.

Also playing his part was catcher Tyler Jenkins, who had two hits on the day as well as contributing defensively behind the plate.

“The most important thing was to just get ahead in strikes and make the hitters work and get us in good counts,” Jenkins said. “They [pitchers Rossi and Christian Milliken] did a great job throwing first pitch strikes.”

Though the Top Prospects National defense had strong moments, the Pokers had already created a gap too big for the Prospects to close by the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Pokers also won against the Lr Mustangs at 7:15 p.m. 7-0 and will play on Sunday back at Terry Park Sports Complex at 10:15 a.m.
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