UPCOMING EVENTS

Varsity

Thursday, 4/19, 4 PM vs. Goleman @ Coral Reef Park



Team Photos from the Sarasota Classic






Team Photo



Team Photo From The Mayor's Cup



Palmetto Edges Coral Reef in the 8th for Mayor’s Cup Trophy
March 4th, 2012 | Author: Jason Katz

The air was one of festivity at Coral Reef, as there was music and tents set up in the parking lot of the park, but it was an intense baseball game that would truly take over the scene Saturday afternoon.
While the hot dogs sizzled and the band played, the Miami Palmetto Panthers clawed their way back from a 2-0 deficit to eventually win the game 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning on a wild pitch.

Both starting pitchers emulated Palmetto Bay Mayor Shelley Stanczyk’s perfect pitching form.

The “Mayor’s Cup,” as this game is called, pit two rivals, not only in their own district but in the broader sense of rivalry, against each other. Palmetto prevailed in the end, but Coral Reef held the lead most of the game.
Both starters kept the game close with different styles of pitching. Palmetto’s Nick Gruener pitched seven innings with 10 strikeouts, using his hard fastball to shut batters down at the plate. The Cudas’ Daniel Lann threw six and one-third innings, and using his control, forced 12 batters to ground out to his infield.
Both coaches gushed about their starters.
“He’s capable of pitching this way. This game has been a long time coming for Daniel,” Coral Reef coach Bisceglia said.
Coach Danny Smith from Palmetto simply exclaimed: “He (Gruener) pitched a hell of a ball game.”
Coral Reef struck first in the second inning. Gruener gave up two early hits, the first to Carlos Ugalde, who hit a high chopping grounder up the middle for a single. He stole second base before Elih Marrero ripped a double into the left-center gap to bring him in.
“Elih is only a freshman, but he has all the tools to be a great ballplayer,” Bisceglia said. “I coached his father many years ago, and now I have the pleasure of coaching him.”
The game would go scoreless until the fifth, thanks to strong defense on both sides. Reef third baseman Brandon Johnson contributed a bunch of assists, including a memorable scoop on a hard ball in the third inning.
In the fifth inning, Coral Reef got runners on base using bunts, and on a TJ Gordon single, Brandon Johnson came in to score. Gruener held them off for the rest of the inning, but small ball came into play later for Palmetto.

The Panthers pose with the mayor of Palmetto Bay.

“The game has changed dramatically because of these BBCOR bats, probably for the better,” Smith said. “Small-ball tactics are the name of the game. People are playing a much classier game nowadays.”
Davis Marchus gave Palmetto its first score on a solo blast to begin the bottom of the fifth, but it all came down to the bottom of the seventh. The Panthers jumped on a waning Lann like true predators and got three quick hits, including the game-tying single by Michael Wall.
Both pitchers were handed the “no-decision” and Lann was pulled for relief man Danny Pino. Griffin Goldman came in to pitch for the Panthers, who couldn’t finish off the Cudas in the rest of the seventh.
Goldman pitched one flawless inning, and that’s all it would take for him to get the “W.” Marchus, the home-run hitter, started the Panthers off with a single. His pinch-runner, Taylor Lang, got sacrificed over and then made it to third base.
He scored on a wild pitch to win the game in the eighth inning, earning Palmetto their fourth Mayor’s Cup victory in five tries.

Extra Innings Needed To Decide Palmetto South Ridge Game
February 29th, 2012 | Author: Joey Capote

Palmetto’s William Schilling went two-for-five and hit a single in the ninth to drive in the go ahead run to win the game.
Seven innings just weren’t enough on Tuesday night. The Palmetto Panthers (5-2) and South Ridge Spartans (2-4) went into extra innings, and they finished in the ninth with the Panthers celebrating a 5-2 victory.
South Ridge took the lead in the fourth inning when they were able to string together three consecutive singles from Christian Khwam, Danny Matos, and pinch hitter Anthony Delofue. With the bases loaded and no outs, Matt Hernandez hit a deep sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Khwam giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
However, Palmetto’s starting pitcher Brandon Kacer was able to pull himself out of the jam and struck out the following two hitters to end the inning with no further damage.
The Spartans added to their lead in the fifth. Catcher Pavel Chavez hit a two out double and came around to score after an error by the Palmetto second baseman. South Ridge claimed a 2-0 lead.
Kacer gave his team a good performance. He pitched six and one-third innings, struck out seven, and allowed only four hits and one earned run.
Palmetto had runners on base consistently the entire night, but were unable to take advantage early on.
“The key to this game was a loss earlier this year when we had a 9-1 lead,” Palmetto head coach Danny Smith said. “These kids know the feeling and don’t ever want that to happen again, but it also showed us that we are never out of a game as long as we keep battling.”
South Ridge’s starting pitcher Osvaldo Garcia continuously found a way to get himself out of innings without allowing the Panthers to get on the score board.
Garcia got help from his teammates and their great defense. Right fielder Christian Khwam had a great play in the fifth to throw out a runner at home to end the inning. Khwam also had another huge play for the Spartans in the eighth when he was able to track down a hard hit ball against the back fence in right field that prevented a big hit late in the game.
“Christian is only a junior, but he is a great defensive player and definitely one of our top guys,” added South Ridge coach Ed Doskow on Khwam’s great defensive efforts throughout the game.
The Panthers finally broke through in the sixth inning and tied the game up at two. William Schilling, Nick Greuner, and Davis Marchus had consecutive hits that got the Panthers back in the game.
Pitching changes were made for both teams. Both South Ridge’s Nick Gensler and Palmetto’s Nick Greuner dominated and shut the hitters down.
It wasn’t until the ninth that the Panthers were able to rally for a few hits against Gensler. William Schilling singled to right field to drive in the go ahead run. Palmetto added two more runs to make the lead 5-2.
Greuner then took the mound for Palmetto in the bottom half of the inning and took the Spartans down one-two-three.
“We are learning to shut the door and gaining confidence,” coach Smith said. “But South Ridge is a great team that battles and they are well coached.”
“The fans that came out and paid to watch this game saw a great high school baseball game for the money.” added coach Doskow. “I have to tip my hat off to them (Palmetto) as they were able to capitalize late in key situations, which was something we just weren’t able to do tonight.”
District 16-8A has not disappointed and has had an exciting game in every match up so far. District games will continue on Thursday for both of these teams as South Ridge will play Killian and Palmetto will take on the Coral Reef Barracudas. 

Our Sponsors:

And Donations From:

Crystal Valley Foods

Backyard Designs

James W. Gordon