Costly Errors Propel Palmetto Over Coral Reef

Palmetto Panthers Manager Danny Smith knows how important each district win can be in the district playoff race. Last season the top four seeds in District 8A-16 ended with 6-4 records while Coral Reef just missed out at 5-5. That is why he chose to throw his ace Nick Gruener on the mound against a win-less Coral Reef team despite a matchup with 4-1 South Dade on Thursday.

“It didn’t matter that Coral Reef was winless, I’m going after every district game as if they’re the number one team,” Smith said.

The move paid off as the Panthers (3-2, 2-1 District 8A-16) defeated the Barracudas 11-3 on an overcast Tuesday afternoon at Coral Reef Park in Palmetto Bay.

The Barracudas (0-6, 0-3 District 8A-16) were hungry for their first win and played like it to start the game. After left fielder Daniel Pino drew a lead off walk in the first inning, shortstop Patxi Arnaiz bunted for a base hit to put runners on first and second. The next hitter Fabio Biondolillo dropped a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third. Senior Carlos Serio grounded out to second base to allow Pino to score from third before Gruener struck out the next batter to end the inning.

The Panthers answered right back by scoring four runs in the bottom of the first. Senior Michael Wall led off with a single to right but advanced to second after the ball got behind the right fielder. After Matt Majewski walked, the Panthers played a little small ball of their own when Riley Delgado bunted for a base hit to load the bases for Palmetto.  A wild pitch allowed Wall to score from third for Palmetto’s first run. Coral Reef pitcher Christian Grullon struck out the next hitter before the Barracudas defense dug themselves in a hole.

With the bases still loaded Johnny Perez hit a grounder to second, but the catcher couldn’t field the throw home allowing Majewski to score. More trouble ensued when Tristan Lewis hit an RBI single to bring Delgado home. The next hitter Josh Cohen hit a fly ball that was dropped by the center fielder to allow another run to score and put Palmetto up 4-1 before Grullon struck out the next two hitters to end the inning.

Down 6-1 after the second inning, the Barracudas showed some life at the top of the third. Nine hitter David Ramirez led off with a bunt for a base hit. Two batters later, Arnaiz brought Ramirez home with an RBI single. After a strikeout, Serio hit a ground out to first base which drove Pino home to put the score at 6-3 at the end of the third inning.

The rest of the game was all Palmetto after the Panthers defense did not allow a hit after the end of the third inning. The big momentum change came in the fifth inning when sophomore Carter Nash hit a two run home run to left field, the first of his career. Nash finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBI, two runs, and a double.

“I saw the ball well, I just wanted to do what I usually do and just hit the ball hard,” Nash said afterwards.

Gruener, a Harvard University commit, finished with eight strikeouts, three runs, and three hits allowed in five innings before Majewski and Delgado closed out the final innings.

“We had a little trouble, we had a couple errors on the bunts but overall we picked it up at the end of the game,” Gruener said.

At the plate, Wall finished 3-for-3 with three runs, an RBI and two stolen bases. Delgado finished 3-for-4 with three RBI, and two runs scored.

For Coral Reef, Arnaiz finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run, but the Barracudas know that they have work to do if they still hope to stay in the playoff race.

“Those miscues really sent our temperament a little bit down,” Coral Reef Manager David Bisceglia said.  “We know we have to play our best game to beat these stronger teams.”

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