Hurling heat Pitcher Jake Roberts of the Port Aransas High School Marlins hurls some heat during the Third Coast Tournament Friday, March 2, at Port Aransas Community Park. STAFF PHOTO BY DAN PARKER With part of their roster playing in the regional basketball quarter-finals, the Marlins baseball team didn’t get on its feet until the third day of the Third Coast Tournament, hosted at Port Aransas Community Park Thursday, March 1, through Saturday, March 3.

The Marlins won three of their four games, losing the first to Ingleside, 7-8, in five innings. The game was called because of a time limit on play.

They then beat San Antonio Cornerstone, 8-5, Kingsville Academy, 11-1, and Benavides, 15-5, to take third place in their own tournament.

(Charlotte won first place; the 3A Ingleside team took second.)

Marlin Alex Groseclose was named the offensive most valuable player of the tournament and Thomas Winton and John Amundsen were named to the All-Tournament team.

Winton led off on the mound for the Marlins, pitching 1.1 innings and allowing seven runs, four of which were earned. Winton struck out two and walked two, and hit two batters with pitches.

Amundsen, who relieved in the second frame, struck out five and walked two, allowing one hit and one earned run. Blue Shodrock picked up the mantle in the fifth, striking out one and allowing no runs.

Shodrock was also active offensively, getting one hit (a double) in three times at bat. Alex Groseclose hit twice in three trips to the plate and Ely Bennett got one hit in two at-bats.

The Marlins and the Mustangs shared errors, with three per team, and hits, with four each.

By Friday evening, the Marlins were beginning to hit their stride. Facing San Antonio Cornerstone, coach Brian Flack used five pitchers, starting with Shodrock, who was on the mound for two innings. He struck out six and allowed one hit.

Nick Maxham, who gathered the win, took over for two innings, striking out four. Then Roberts struck out three in one inning, Blake Goodwin struck out two and walked one, allowing one hit, and Dan Campbell struck out two, walked four, allowing one hit and five runs.

Shodrock again was active offensively, getting a triple for one of his two hits in three trips to the plate. Winton was two for four, Alex Groseclose was one for four and Maxham was one for three.

Amundsen got one hit in one at-bat, including a walk; Andrew Groseclose was also one for one. Blake Goodwin went one for three and Connor Collins was one for two.

The Marlins spread their scoring, with three runs in each of the first and third frames and two more in the fourth. They were one error down from their opening game, with two mishaps.

The hosts’ third game, against Kingsville Academy, was the first of a double-header that closed the tournament on Saturday evening.

Roberts was the starting pitcher, striking out four and allowing no runs in the first two innings. Amundsen took over in the third, striking out four and allowing two hits and one run, and getting the win.

Alex Groseclose, Roberts and Maxham supplied the offense, going two for three (Groseclose and Roberts) and one for three (Maxham).

The Marlins started with two in the first and one in the third, and exploded in the fourth inning with eight runs. That led to the game being called in the fifth inning under the UIL’s 10-run rule (if one team is ahead by 10 or more runs, the game can be declared over).

In the third game, the Marlins were down to one error, while Kingsville committed three mistakes.

Officials again invoked the 10-run rule when the Marlins forged ahead of Benavides for a 15-5 win.

Marlin scoring started off with a bang: 10 runs in the first inning, followed by relatively mild chapters of three and two runs each. Benavides didn’t score until the fifth inning, and by that time, it was too late.

Alex Groseclose started on the mound, striking out two in one inning. Caleb Rogers, who relieved in the second, struck out two and is credited with the win. Tyler Pate took over in the third and struck out three, Christian Johnson walked two and struck out three in the fourth and Goodwin pitched the fifth inning, walking two, striking out three and hitting two batters. Goodwin allowed five runs, two of them earned.

Alex Groseclose got three hits in four trips to the plate and brother Andrew was two for three. Shodrock went two for four, Pate and Maxham were two for three and Roberts was one for four.

Collins got one hit in three trips to the plate, Winton went one for two and Rogers got a hit his only at-bat.

“The kids performed very well,” said Flack. “The younger kids came through and helped a lot with the absence of a number of starters due to basketball (the regional quarter-final game). We were not full strength until the last game. It should be an exciting year.”