FORT MYERS, Fla. — As if on cue, rain started to fall on JetBlue Park for the first time this weekend just as the Gyrenes were eliminated from the SUN Conference tournament. Ave Maria fell to the Keiser Seahawks in an elimination game Saturday afternoon 7-3. The loss ends AMU's third appearance in the postseason and second in a row.
Ave Maria opened the scoring in the first inning, but it was far from an easy feeling for the Gyrene faithful at the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox. That is because in the second at-bat of the game, while hustling to first on a single, Tanner Kelly tweaked something in his leg and had to be taken out of the game. That was a big loss for the Gyrenes both offensively and defensively. At the plate, Kelly had reached on base safely in all but one game, including Saturday's tournament game. Defensively, Kelly was the senior leader of the infield at shortstop. His single moved Francesco Barbieri to third on a hit and run, who was then brought home with an RBI single from Luis Rodriguez-Gallo.
The two teams held each other in check for the second, but then Keiser broke the game open in the third. The Seahawks sent 10 batters up to the plate in the frame and brought home five runs, tied for the most brought home in a single inning so far in the tournament. Keiser added another run in the fifth inning to make the score 6-1.
In the bottom half of the frame, the Gyrenes got the makings of a comeback started. Cole Rasbury led the frame off with a hot shot single to center field that almost took the Keiser pitcher's head off. Jimmy Coffey followed that up with a single that put runners on the corner. Rasbury scored off a sacrifice fly from Barbieri while Coffey scored on an a two-out throwing error from the Keiser third baseman.
Heading into the final four innings of the game, the Gyrenes felt a lot better about a three-run deficit instead of a five-run deficit, but unfortunately, those two singles in the fifth would be their last hits of the game. The Gyrenes went down mostly in order from the sixth to the ninth, with the lone blemish from Keiser being a walk issued to the conference leader in free passes, Barbieri.
Keiser added a run in the eighth and worked a 1-2-3 ninth to win the game 7-3 and eliminate the Gyrenes.
Ave Maria finishes the season with a record of 22-26. Despite the losing record, 2024 should be remembered as an up year for the Gyrenes. AMU started the year ranked #15 in the country, the highest they have ever been ranked in school history. The Gyrenes had two players named to the First All-SUN team, Francesco Barbieri and Davis Blair. It is the first time since 2018 Ave Maria has had anyone on the first team and the most since 2013. The Gyrenes had six players overall get nominated as All-Conference players, again the most in team history since 2013.
As a team, the set the program record for home runs and slugging percentage while posting the second on-base percentage.
Barbieri had the greatest single-season AMU history. He was named the SUN Conference Player of the Year, leading the league in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, OPS, walks, triples and home runs. He set the program record for slugging percentage, on-base percentage and OPS, posting just the third 1+ OPS season in school history. He also set the single season record for walks and home runs, breaking the record with just the second three-home run game in AMU history.
From Phoenix to Fort Myers and through all the ups and downs, and it was a good season for the Gyrenes. The only thing to do now is wait and prepare for 2025.
