Delgado falls to Meridian 12-8 to open baseball season

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. – Delgado dropped an 12-8 decision to Meridian Community College Friday to open its 2023 season in the opening round of the Visit Panama City Beach College Classic.

The Dolphins jumped to an early start when Bryan Broussard reached on a leadoff single in the first and scored on a triple by Josh Alexander. Jacob Singletary walked and Alexander scored on a sacrifice fly. Jhonnathan Ferrebus singled to score Singletary and advanced on a passed ball before scoring on a fielder’s choice by Jake Kaufmann for Delgado’s fourth run of the inning. Meridian hit the board on a solo homerun by Brennan Study in the second inning.

In the third, Ferrebus doubled and scored on a single by Kaufmann for a fifth Dolphin run to give Delgado the 5-1 lead through three innings.

In the fifth, Meridian bats produced nine runs on six hits, including two three-run homeruns to take a 10-5 lead. Meridian added a run in the sixth on an RBI triple by Brennan Study. Tyler Cook led off the Delgado sixth with a solo homerun. Bryan Broussard walked and scored on a two out double by Josh Alexander for another run to narrow the Eagles’ lead to four runs through six innings.

The Eagles picked up their twelfth run on a wild pitch in the seventh. In the bottom frame, Logan O’Neill reached on a single, advanced on Tyler Cook’s walk, and scored on a pinch hit single by Brock Slaton for Delgado’s eighth and final run as the Dolphins left two stranded on base to close Meridian’s 12-8 win.

Delgado’s Kaile Levatino suffered the loss in relief of Josh Pierce in the fifth. Starting pitcher Carson Lore allowed only two hits and one run in his four innings of work. Cole Randazzo closed the game in the seventh.

Delgado (0-1) will face San Jacinto at 12:30 Saturday in Game 13 of the bracket. The winner will advance to play at 4:00 while the game’s loser will play at 6:30 Saturday evening.