SARASOTA, Fl.

The Mighty Banyans dropped both of their doubleheader games against Fort Lauderdale on Friday, February 14.

In the first matchup, the Banyans got down 6-0 by the end of the 3rd inning as the Eagle home run barrage continued into Friday's doubleheader. In the bottom half of the third inning the Banyans were able to claw back for 3 runs on a triple from Matthew Merk which cut the Eagle lead in half.

The Eagles would find their bats again in the 5th inning bringing 12 guys to the plate and scratching across 7 runs in the inning to extend their lead to 13-3.

The Banyans, facing an early exit in Game 1 via a mercy rule, were able to avoid it thanks to scoring 6 runs in the frame and batting around the order in the inning themselves. Merk was able to drive home another run on a single, Avery Bishop found the base of the outfield fence with a double to drive home a run, and Domenic Fernandez and Matthew Garcia both drew bases loaded walks for RBIs. The Banyans entered the top of the 6th inning down 13-9.

After another run scored in that frame, the Banyans were finally able to break through. After two singles from Bishop and Jesus Fortis, Landen Morrison drove in a run with a single, setting the table for Patrick Fink, who launched a home run over the center field fence to cut the lead to one.

After a Brecken Fair single and an Adrian Quinones walk, John McIntosh stepped to the plate and delivered a run scoring single to center field to tie the game at 14 all.

However, the comeback would not be complete as the offense stalled in the 8th inning, followed by 3 Eagle extra base hits in the 9th to give them the 18-14 lead, a lead they would hold the rest of the game.

The second matchup of the afternoon started with the Banyans getting off to the start they had been looking for all weekend eve. In the 2nd inning, McIntosh roped a single and was later able to score on a Rylan Jomisko double. Jomisko then found home plate off the bat of Domenic Fernandez to give the Banyans an early 2-0 lead.

After 3 shutout innings from starter Johann Monrroy, the Eagles finally got the big hit, which was a 3 run home run to give the Eagles a lead, followed by a double and single combination to drive 4 runs home in the 5th inning.

The Banyans showed that intestinal fortitude again in the bottom half of the 5th scoring 2 runs after a singles from Aiden Apparicio and Brecken Fair were driven home to tie the game at 4.

The Eagles were just too much after that inning however, as the offense exploded through the next 2 innings, scratching across 8 more runs and giving the Eagles a 12-4 victory.

The Banyans next game will be Friday, February 21 when they travel to Jacksonville to take on Trinity Baptist College.