LAKELAND, Fla.—Southeastern had the opportunity to take the field against professional baseball players Wednesday afternoon in a Spring Training exhibition against the Detroit Tigers' A-Team made up of some of the top prospects.
Big days at the plate from Gage Workman and Parker Meadows lifted the Tigers to a 13-1 win in front of more than 1,800 fans.
"Obviously the relationship we have with the Tigers is unbelievable," said coach
Adrian Dinkel. "They treat us incredibly well and this experience they give us, and our school gives us is phenomenal for our guys and we are thankful for the opportunity. This is the highlight of a lot of these guys' year and we are happy to do this each year."
Logan Walters started things out strong for the Fire, striking out Eric De La Rosa and Workman the No. 11 prospect in the organization, and completed his 1-2-3 inning with a groundout back to the mound by fourth-rated prospect Dillon Dingler.
The Tigers benefited from four walks in the second along with a two-run single by Workman to take a 5-0 lead into the third. The hosts also got three perfect innings on the mound from Alex Faedo, the #16 prospect in the organization who struck out three. They added two more in the third on a two-run triple by Meadows, the No. 20 prospect.
Abdel Guadalupe got the first hit for the Fire leading off the fourth with a double to right field and was followed by a single to shallow left by
Isaac Nunez which dropped between the left fielder and short stop. Reliever Garrett Hill came back by retiring the next nine he faced with four strikeouts.
Ronnie Voacolo also recorded a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, striking out the top of the order getting De La Rosa looking, and Workman and Dinkler swinging.
"Going out there and getting the three strikeouts was pretty big," said Voacolo. "When you go up there against guys with this much talent and you can do what you do, it's a great feeling."
The Tigers sent all nine to the plate again in the sixth, highlighted by Workman's three-run homer to center field to take a 10-0 lead as part of a four-run inning.
Brandon Dorsey led off the seventh with a solo home run to left on a 1-0 pitch from Keider Montero, the No. 29 prospect in the organization to get the Fire on the board.
"He first threw a fastball in and came back with the same pitch and I swung straight and hit it," said Dorsey.
The Tigers answered with a run in the seventh on an RBI single to left by Workman and added another run in the eighth on a towering homer to right by Bryant Packard.
Francisco Thomas picked up a pinch-hit single to third base in the ninth for the final hit for the Fire.
Workman had six RBIs on three hits and Meadows was 4-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored.
"The guys competed, had a lot of fun and it was fun to see our guys succeed," said Dinkel.
The Fire return to Sun Conference play on Friday at No. 13 Webber International.
