Seahawks finish regular season at 16-7
As the Franklin County Seahawks varsity baseball team enters the district tournament this week as the second seed, they complete the regular season at 16-7, winning six of their last eight games, married only by losses to rival Port St. Joe.
The Seahawks were slated to face third-seeded Blountstown on Tuesday.
On March 24 at home, Coach Brock Johnson’s squad downed the Destin Sharks 8-6, coming from behind with four runs in the bottom of the sixth to secure the win.
Junior Nolan Alford, sophomores Sadiq Jones and Chason Martina and freshman Gabe Kelly combined to give up five earned runs on nine hits.
Freshman Kayden Drake and Jones each had a single and a double, while sophomore Jeremiah Allen had a pair of singles.
Martina and Alford each doubled, while junior Colby Blackburn and freshman Karcen Poloronis each singled.
On March 25 in Bristol, the Tiger Sharks downed Liberty County 14-3 in seven innings, as Blackburn and Alford combined to twirl a four-hitter, giving up just two earned runs.
Blackburn smacked a home run, as he and Alford, Jones and Klaus each had a pair of hits.
Martina had a two-run double, with hits also coming from freshman Kobe Joseph, Martina and freshman Karcen Poloronis.
The Seahawks fell at home March 28 to Port St. Joe 6-2, as Klaus and Kelly gave up two earned runs on eight hits, while striking out eight Tiger Sharks between them.
Klaus and Drake each had a pair of hits and one run batted in. Poloronis doubled and Jones had a single.
The Seahawks got back in the winners circle at Vernon April 3, with a 5-2 win over the Yellowjackets in five innings in the first game of a doubleheader.
Martina gave up two earned runs on five hits, while striking out two and walking none in the completed game.
Jones homered and doubled to lead the team, with Klaus nailing a double and Drake and Alford each singles.
In the nightcap, the Seahawks shut out Vernon 11-0 in four innings, as Kelly struck out four as he no-hit the Yellowjackets.
Poloronis drove in three runs on two hits, as Drake and Alford each drove two runs on two hits, and Klaus one on his two hits. Sophomore Brennan Cook had a two-run single.
On April 4 at Munroe, the Seahawks downed the Bobcats 16-1 in four innings, as Cook gave up one earned run on three hits, and struck out six and walked three in going the distance.
Drake and Allen each had two hits, while Martina and Alford each drove in three runs on a double, and Klaus two runs on his double.
On April 8 at home, the Seahawks downed Liberty County 5-2 in seven innings, as Alford, who pitched five-and-one-third innings gave up no earned runs on three hits and struck out two.
Jones homered and Drake doubled, while Joseph had one hit and drove in three runs. Klaus and Blackburn also singled.
The Seahawks closed out their regular season Friday at Port St. Joe, as they fell 13-3 in six innings.
Martina had a pair of hits, but that was pretty much all the connecting the Seahawks would do on the night.
While they managed to jump ahead with a run in the top of the first, and later had a pair of runs in the third, the Tiger Sharks two in the second, four more in the third, five in the fifth, and two in the sixth put the game out of reach.
The Seahawks used five pitchers on the night – Blackburn, Martina, Kelly, Jones and Cook – and together they struck out four and walked seven, while giving up four earned runs on 10 hits. The Seahawks committed four errors.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.