The Island Coast High School baseball team swept its way to the championship of the 24-team Comcast Invitational tournament over this past weekend, racking up five straight wins to earn the title.

The event, featuring teams from Southwest Florida from Naples to Sarasota, was held at the Charlotte Stone Crabs complex in Port Charlotte.

En route to the title, the Gators defeated Lemon Bay, 4-0; Charlotte High, 9-0; Riverview, 12-0; Braden River, 2-1, in the semi-finals; and Lakewood Ranch, 1-0, in the championship game, pushing across the winning run late in the contest.

Allowing just one run in the tournament, the Gators’ pitching was solid in all five games. According to head coach Clinton Montgomery, it was a team pitching effort – 11 different hurlers were used in the tournament.

“We just threw strikes,” he said. “Everyone pitched in.”

Based on the tournament results, the future also looks bright for the Gators. No upper classmen made the trip – the team consisted of all freshmen and sophomores.

“We tried to get everyone together,” Montgomery admitted. “We got enough to get it done.”

Two of the players Montgomery praised for their play in the tournament were Cole Ondrejka and Kameron Gellinger, the only two full-time returning Gators from this past regular season team.

“They were our leaders through the tournament,” Montgomery said.

Two others, Sean Gavit and Sammy Malone, also earned the coach’s praise for their contributions pitching and hitting throughout the tournament.