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Florida defeats Washington at Lamade Stadium 6-1 on Friday night

By Chris Masse 4 min read

A closer look at 6-1 Lake Mary, Florida win over Puyallup, Washington, Friday at Lamade Stadium Stadium.

PLAY OF THE GAME -- Lathan Norton's clutch strikeout: Norton put out the fire in the fourth inning after entering with the bases loaded and two outs. Florida led 5-1 at the time, but Washington had the tying run at the plate and had the potential to stage a similar dramatic comeback like it had against Oregon and Idaho at the Northwest Regional. Instead, Norton was calm under pressure and left the bases loaded, getting a quick strikeout.

FLORIDA PLAYER OF THE GAME -- JJ Felicano: Four different players had hits for Florida which did an outstanding job manufacturing runs, but Felicano gets the nod after hitting a sixth inning home run. Feliciano also hit a sacrifice fly and produced two RBIs in his last two plate appearances.

WASHINGTON PLAYER OF THE GAME -- Connor Morey: Coming off a strong regional final, Morey stayed hot, going 1 for 1 with a walk. Morey has reached base in his last three plate appearances going back to regionals and reached third base in the fourth inning after drawing a 1-out walk.

BIG INNING--Florida third: Washington pitchers held a potent offense to four hits, but Florida capitalized on walks, hit batters and errors, while also moving runners well. The Southeast champions did not have a hit in the third but scored twice to take a 3-0 lead. Hunter Alexander hit an RBI grounder before Feliciano's sacrifice fly to center field made it a three-run game.

BEST EFFORT--Lathan Norton's relief pitching: Norton was dominant in relief, picking up steam after he extinguished the fourth inning flames. Norton retired all seven batters he faced, striking out five. He constantly worked ahead and closed the victory with a three-pitch strikeout.

FLASHING LEATHER--Florida center fielder Liam Morrisey made a super running catch in the second inning which may have saved a run. A runner was on second with one out when Aaiden Brown hit a laser into the left-field gap. Morrisey, though, read the ball well, had a great jump and made the catch while holding the runner at second. Washington shortstop Rawly Jennings made a good stop on a third inning grounder from Christopher Chikodroff near the outfield grass. He then made a snap throw and first baseman Easton Stolmeier a nice scoop to record the inning's first out. After Morrisey went into pitch, Jadob Bibaud produced a center field highlight, making one of the top catches at the Series thus far. Brayden Blair smashed a long drive to the center field wall, but Bibaud went back and made the running catch, holding on while crashing into the wall. That play loomed especially large when Connor Morey followed with a walk. Brayden Blair made a nifty play to open the sixth inning after he had moved to first base. Blair stopped a hard-hit grounder by Chase Anderson headed down the line. He then sprinted from near the outfield grass to beat the speedy Anderson to the bag and produce the inning's first out.

HOME RUNS: JJ Feliciano showed off his arm in Florida's first win when he dominated on the mound. He flexed his offensive muscle Friday night and slammed Florida's first Series home run. Feliciano drove a blast that just made it over the center field wall and put his team up, 6-1.

WHAT IT MEANS--Florida improves to 2-0 at the Series and moves on to Monday's winner's bracket final showdown. There, it will be quite a showdown as the Southeast champions play Texas, coming off a 9-0 win against Pennsylvania, with the winner advancing to the winner's bracket final. Washington will try bouncing back Sunday when it faces the winner of Saturday's Pennsylvania-New Hampshire game. Washington won three straight elimination games after losing its first game at regionals, so it has been in this position before.

Starting at /week.