The Mariner Tritons were a bit apprehensive about having to face South Fort Myers ace pitcher Hudson Boyd in the first round of the District 4A-11 Tournament.

The second-seeded Tritons went from apprehensive to the brink of panic when Boyd struck out the first three batters he faced and the seventh-seeded Wolfpack grabbed a 5-0 lead.

However, there was no panic in the Tritons, who countered with 16 unanswered runs to beat Boyd and the Wolfpack 16-6 in five innings Tuesday night at Terry Park.

“These guys have battled all year long,” said Tritons coach Steve Larsen. “We were not comfortable on the mound, behind the plate or in the field early. Some of that came from knowing who was on the mound for them.”

Boyd lasted just 2 1/3 innings, surrendering seven runs on three hits with six strikeouts and five walks.

In Tuesday’s other quarterfinal matchups all top four seeded teams prevailed: No. 3 Riverdale topped Ida Baker 7-5, No. 1 Estero spanked Lemon Bay 13-3 in five innings and No. 4 Cypress Lake rallied in the bottom of the seventh to clip Fort Myers 5-4.

Wednesday’s semifinal matchups find Mariner (22-4) clashing with Riverdale (19-4) while Cypress Lake challenges top-seeded Estero. The winners meet for the district championship at 7 p.m. Friday.

South threatened in the first inning, leaving runners stranded on first and third against Mariner starting pitcher Daniel Alimonti.

The Tritons went down 1-2-3 on three strikeouts in the first, but the complexion of the game changed with a very long second inning.

South roughed up Alimonti for five runs, only two earned, while sending nine batters to the plate. The Tritons helped create their own misery with a fielding error, a passed ball and a wild pitch. One run scored on a groundout, the second on a passed ball with two out. After two walks, Ramon Reyes smacked a two-run double and later scored on a wild pitch.

“We did not execute early like we planned at all,” said Larsen.

Instead of folding up the tent, the Tritons went to work, tying the game 5-5 in their half of the second inning.

Alex Santana walked to start the fray, stole second and with one out stole third. Dan Cohill walked and stole second. Martin Evans knocked in the first run when his ground ball to short was bobbled.

Six stolen bases, three walks and three fielding errors in the inning obviously rattled Boyd.

With Two out, the Tritons added four more runs. Luiggy Marte walked to load the bases for Audry Santana, who singled to left to plate two runs. Walter Cleary ripped a single to center to drive in the final two runs of the rally.

“Those hits by Audry and Walter were the key,” said Larsen. “It got us from one to three runs and from three to five.”

With the game tied, Taylor Walker took over on the mound for the Tritons while Alimonti went behind the plate. Walker retired the first six batters he faced and nine of 12 to pick up the win.

Boyd’s night on the mound was over in the third after two more walks and a run-scoring single by Evans that put the Tritons ahead for good.

“You don’t get in the head of a pitcher like Boyd, but we did put some doubt in his mind,” said Larsen.

The Tritons batted around for the second straight inning, scoring three runs on three hits, two walks and another South fielding error to lead 8-5.

“We knew that once we got a lead we would be fine,” said Larsen. “We didn’t think that would be at 6-5.”

The Tritons took the lead over the 10-run barrier with an eight-run outburst in the fourth, sending 12 batters to the plate. Two South errors contributed to the rally that included a total of five hits, capped by Alimonti’s three-run double with two out.

The Wolfpack got a run in the fifth to make it a 10-run margin, but Walker worked out of a two-on, two-out jam to end it.

South Fort Myers050 01 – 6 7 6

Mariner053 8x – 16 11 2

W – Taylor Walker. L – Pierce Byrd.

2B – Ramon Reyes (SFM), Sean Stanislawski (SFM), Audry Santana (M), Daniel Alimonti (M). 3B – Alex Santana (M).

Riverdale 7, Ida Baker 5: Five errors on defense proved to be Ida Baker’s undoing in a District 4A-11 quarterfinals loss to Riverdale.

The Bulldogs (12-14) surrendered five unearned runs on the night, which helped wipe out a 4-1 lead in the third inning.

“Our defense has been getting it done all year,” said Bulldogs coach Ryan Jackson. “Our pitchers did what they had to do.”

Each team collected just five hits, three of them for extra bases. The key blow was David Itterley’s RBI double in the fourth that put Riverdale ahead for good with Itterley scoring later on a passed ball to make it 6-4.

Ryan Hutson had two hits, including a triple, and scored two runs for the Bulldogs while Robbie Pilgrim added two hits, including a double, and one RBI. Mike Gulotta contributed two RBI, both on groundouts, while going hitless.

The Raiders (19-4) face Mariner in the tournament semifinals Wednesday night at Terry Park.

Ida Baker112 000 1 – 5 5 5

Riverdale103 201 x – 7 5 1

W – Itterley. L – Justin Gubelman.

2B – Robbie Pilgrim (IB), Itterley (R). 3B – Ryan Hutson (IB).