Late Rally Propels Palmetto Over Rival Southridge

After an embarrassing mercy-rule loss to district rival Varela High, the Palmetto Panthers vowed to play with more focus against a tough Southridge team.

With ace Nick Gruener on the mound the Panthers played with laser sharp focus as they defeated the Spartans 4-2, thanks to some clutch hitting in the seventh inning.

With runners on the corners, third baseman Matt Majewski laced a single down the right field line to score the go-ahead run as the Palmetto bench erupted with cheers.

“We came back from what we would call a disaster game last week at Varela,” Palmetto Manager Danny Smith. “It’s hard to win here, it is, that team is so well coached.”

In a battle of aces between Gruener and the Spartans’ right-hander Osvaldo Garcia, the two stars did not disappoint early on with both pitchers battling for majority of the game.

The Spartans (4-4, 3-3 in District 8A-16) struck the first blow in the bottom of the second.

With two outs, second baseman Alex Aguila reached first after he was hit by a pitch. A passed ball allowed Aguila to move into scoring position before third baseman Jerrick Campbell belted an RBI single up the middle for Southridge’s first run of the game. After another single by J.P. Castaneda to put runners on second and third, center fielder Christian Khawam hit a grounder at third baseman Matt Majewski, who stepped on third for the force out to end the inning.

Garcia held Palmetto’s hitters in check through the first four innings. The Panthers were limited to two singles by Gruener, but two double plays turned in the first and fourth inning stalled runs from scoring.

The tide shifted for Palmetto (6-4, 5-2) in the top of the fifth inning.

First baseman Josh Levey singled to lead off the inning. Senior Chris Perse came in to pinch-run for Levey, and a passed ball allowed Perse to advance to second.

Carter Nash drew a walk and then things got interesting. With lead-off hitter Michael Wall at the plate, Southridge Manager Ed Doskow signaled a play to his defense. Before Garcia delivered the pitch, first baseman Octavio Mirabal sprinted to home plate expecting a bunt, but Garcia faked a pick-off throw to first, causing confusion among everyone at the game.

The Palmetto side argued that Garcia balked because he didn’t step off the mound and Smith went out to make his case with the umpires. After a few minutes of deliberation, the umpires decided that Garcia did balk and motioned the runners to move to second and third, respectively. Upon their decision, a heated Doskow left the dugout and went to the umpires for an explanation. After a heated debate, the umpires upheld the balk call and Doskow returned to the dugout still fuming about the delayed call.

“We had a play put on at second base, our guy turned to the wrong base, nobody calls anything, their coach comes out and argues and then the umpire called a balk,” Doskow said. “My argument was that the only thing the base umpire has to look at was the pitcher, he should have called the balk right away, don’t call a balk after the fact, you see it make the call and don’t stutter it.”

To add fuel to the fire the Panthers would score on the first play after the call. A passed ball allowed Perse to score from third to tie the game at 1-1.

With Nash now at third and no outs, Wall hit a deep fly ball to right field that allowed Nash to tag and put the Panthers up 2-1. After Gruener legged out a bunt single and Riley Delgado single to left field, the Spartans got an out off a sacrifice bunt and ground ball to short to end inning.

“The thing I think they were mad about, it’s actually the base umpire’s call, not the home plate umpire and they were upset that he didn’t make the call in the beginning,” Smith said afterwards. “It led to another run for us, if we don’t get that run then its a whole different story and we lose 2-1. Yes, it was a momentum-changer.”

Southridge would respond in the bottom of the frame when Diandre Amion lined a one-out single to left field. After Amion stole second base, catcher Brandon Garcia hit a ground-out that moved Amion over to third with two outs. The Panthers appeared to have the Spartans on the ropes when Gruener forced Brandon Garcia into an 0-2 count. On the next pitch, Garcia hit a chopper in the infield and beat the throw to first for an RBI single and a tie game at two runs each.

The Spartans squandered another opportunity to score when Josten Heron laid down a bunt with two outs and Gruener’s throw to first sailed high into right field. However, the Spartans got greedy on the bases and the relay throw home waited for Garcia as he tried to score from first.

In total, the Spartans left nine runners stranded on the bases.

“We are not a mentally-tough team right now,” Doskow said. “Hopefully this game will get us better so come April 25th if we have to play them in districts we won’t make the same mistakes.”

After a scoreless sixth inning, the Panthers turned it up a notch in the seventh.

Wall led off the inning with an infield hit after beating out the shortstop’s throw to first. After Garcia struck out Gruener, Delgado singled to put runners at first and second. Catcher Johnny Perez grounded into a fielder’s choice, allowing the second baseman to force the runner out at second.

As Garcia prepared to face Matt Majewski, Doskow came to the mound and after a short chat, decided to leave Garcia in the game.

It was a move that Majewski would make him pay for.

Coach Doskow stepped in to relieve Garcia with right-hander Isaac Dasilva following Majewski’s big hit. Garcia finished six and two-thirds allowing four runs, eight hits and seven strikeouts.

Smith made a move of his own, bringing in the lefty junior Josh Cohen to pinch-hit against Dasilva. Cohen delivered when he smashed an RBI double to left-center field to bring home pinch-runner Joel Thaler and give the Panthers a two-run cushion heading to the bottom of the frame where Gruener sealed the deal for the complete game win. Gruener finished the game allowing two runs, 10 hits and five strikeouts to improve to 4-0 on the season.

“We’re psyched after this win,” Gruener said with a big smile. “The guys were a little down after that Varela game. I mean, we got crushed. Now after this one, we’re going to come and have a great practice tomorrow.”

The win at Southridge meant a little more to Coach Smith. The Spartans home field is named after his late brother Robbie, a police officer killed in the line of duty. The late Smith also has a statue next to the field’s entrance.

“It’s hard to come here and then you beat what you feel is family,” an emotional Smith said.

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