Mariner scored an unearned run in three separate innings to squeak past Cape Coral 3-1 Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the District 4A-11 baseball tournament at Terry Park.

Mariner senior Justin Gubelman (6-2) pitched a one-hitter with five strikeouts. Four walks and a couple of defensive errors made the one-hitter seem more like a 10-hitter. The Seahawks left five baserunners stranded.

Freshman Joey Morales started the first scoring rally in the third inning for the Tritons on an unusual play. Morales struck out swinging, but the ball skipped past Cape catcher Koji Spangler to the backstop. Spangler could not find the ball as Morales raced around to second base.

After two strikeouts, Morales took third on a wild pitch with Alex Santana at the plate. Santana then singled up the middle and beat the throw to first base while Morales scored the go-ahead run.

“We played pretty poorly tonight,” said Tritons coach Steve Larsen. “I’m just happy to get a win and advance.”

The Tritons (19-7) take on Fort Myers in the semifinals Wednesday night at Terry Park. Fort Myers advanced with a 13-3 win over Cypress Lake.

The Seahawks scratched for the tying run in the fourth inning without benefit of a base hit. Koji Spangler drew a one-out walk. Luke Spangler and Brett Hobaugh reached on back-to-back infield errors that loaded the bases. Koji Spangler scored from third on a wild pitch, but that was all the Seahawks could manage.

Danny Hale flied out to right field for the second out, but Hobaugh was called out to end the inning for rounding third base on the play and failing to retouch third on his way back to second.

Junior Brandon Marshall pitched well enough to win, but the Seahawks left-hander was tagged with the loss. He allowed three unearned runs and seven hits while striking out six and walking two through six innings.

“That was Brandon’s best performance, but we made too many mistakes,” said Seahawks coach Mike Gorton. “You can’t make those mistakes against a team the caliber of Mariner.”

Mariner regained the lead for good with an unearned run in the fourth inning. Charlie Klein singled, Walter Cleary walked and Ryan Hutson singled to load the bases. One out later, Klein scored when Morales reached on a ground ball error. Cleary also tried to score on the play, but was thrown out at the plate.

The Tritons added an insurance run in the sixth when Hutson, who slugged a one-out triple to the fence in left field gap, scored on a dropped fly ball in right field that would have been the third out.

The Seahawks finish the season 12-12.

“This was the first season with that many wins in about six years at Cape,” said Gorton. “We are moving in the right direction. We will have a good team coming back. We lose five seniors, but we have some JV players who can fill those spots easily.”

Cape Coral000 100 0 – 1 1 3

Mariner001 101 x – 3 7 2

W – Gubelman (6-2). L – Marshall (4-5).

2B – Hutson (M). 3B – Hutson (M).

Baker 3, Riverdale 2: Zach Nason drove in the tying run in the third inning with a double, then scored the game-winner on a passed ball and a throwing error to life Baker past Riverdale in the District 4A-11 quarterfinals.

Standing on second base with one out after the RBI double, Nason saw a pitch in the dirt get away from the Riverdale catcher and took off for third base. The throw to third sailed down the line allowing Nason to trot home with the third and final run. Nason was the only Baker hitter with two hits.

“I’m very proud of this group of kids,” said Baker coach Ryan Jackson. “We’ve won six games in a row and hit the ball well. In the last 10 games we have been playing good defense and good offense, and no seniors.”

Sophomore Sean Brady (6-3) pitched a complete game, allowing two runs while scattering five hits. He did not walk a batter, but struck out eight.

The win sends the Bulldogs (15-9) into the tournament semifinals Wednesday night against top seeded Estero, which eliminated South Fort Myers 8-0.

Riverdale101 000 0 – 2 5 0

Ida Baker012 000 x – 3 8 1

W – Brady (6-3). L – Payne.

2B – Z. Nason (IB), Gee (R).

Cape Coral 14, North Fort Myers 4: Cape Coral snapped its three-game losing streak with a runaway victory over North Fort Myers in the District 4A-11 Tournament opener.

The Seahawks, who had lost eight of their last 10 regular-season games, broke out of their shell with 13 base hits off four different Red Knights pitchers to advance to the quarterfinals against Mariner.

Cain Spangler led the Seahawks with three hits, including a triple, and scored three runs. Brandon Marshall, Koji Spangler and Luke Spangler all contributed two hits apiece.

“We did not give up stupid runs,” said Seahawks coach Mike Gorton. “It did bother me that we did not get the runner at second base (first inning) when we picked him off first. It was quite a turn of events. We broke our (hitting) slump and drove in some runners in scoring position.”

The Red Knights struck first with three singles to shallow center field in their first at-bat. Casey Perkowski’s single, the second one in the inning, drove in the run.

The Seahawks responded with three runs in the first off four base hits. Cain Spangler hit an RBI single to left, followed by Marshall’s RBI double to center and an RBI single to center by Luke Spangler.

North made two errors in the second inning which led to another Seahawks run. Cape tacked on two more runs in the third inning with one hit and North’s third error. Brett Hobaugh’s one-out single to right drove in the first run. Billy Pryor grounded out to second base for the second out with runners at first and third, but Danny Hale rounded second base and got caught in a rundown between second and third that allowed Hobaugh to trot home.

Luke Spangler pitched six innings to pick up the win, striking out five and scattering seven hits.

“Luke has pitched well throughout the season in previous starts,” said Gorton. “We limited him to 25 innings because he is a freshman and didn’t want him to come up with a tired arm.”

The Red Knights erupted for three runs in the sixth inning to cut the deficit to 8-4. A one-out single followed by back-to-back RBI doubles by Perkowski and Corey Jackson started the rally. Zach Harris singled down the third base line to drive in the third run.

The Seahawks, however, had perhaps their best inning of the season. They sent seven batters to the plate, scoring six runs on six hits without making an out. Pryor’s triple drove in the sixth run to end it on the 10-run rule.

Overall, the Seahawks stole 11 bases to go with their 13 hits.

North FM100 003 – 4 7 3

Cape Coral312 206 – 14 13 1

W – Luke Spangler (2-1). L – Nelson.

2B – Perkowski (NFM), Jackson (NFM), Marshall (CC). 3B – C. Spangler (CC), Pryor (CC).