Fifth-Inning Rally Propels Palm Beach Central to Slam Win Over Summit Christian

Summit Christian’s Sam Murphy on deck

The matchup of two 2-0 teams in the Santaluces Slam looked good on paper, and the reality did not disappoint as Palm Beach Central won 4-2.

Both teams played a very clean game with the the Summit Christian Fighting Saints committed the game’s lone error on a throw to the plate in the bottom of the fifth.

Palm Beach Central starter Jorge Alfonso began the game by retiring the first six Fighting Saints he faced. Despite giving up two hits in the opening frame, Summit Christian starting pitcher Sam Murphy, too, escaped the inning without surrendering a run, partly thanks to an outfield assist from his brother and right fielder Scott Murphy. Sam Murphy again got some help from his defense when left fielder Shane Swanson made a diving catch to end the bottom of the second in a one-two-three fashion.

Shane Swanson led off the following inning by driving a single to left. Two batters later, Franklin Diaz’s single plated Swanson and gave the Fighting Saints the early lead. In the top of the fifth, an Efren Sanchez single with a runner on second extended the lead to 2-0.

In the bottom half of the fifth, a lead-off double down the right field line by PB Central shortstop Danny Hernandez ignited the Broncos’ bench. Next up was senior Shawn Murray, who drove Hernandez home with a single up the middle. Air Force commit Hunter Morey advanced Murray with a sacrifice bunt and Gage Morey’s double to deep left center allowed Murray to score easily. With only one out, Joe Shue hit an RBI single and advanced to second on a wild throw to home. Shue later moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a fielder’s choice.

When the dust settled, the Broncos had tallied four runs in the fifth and took a two-run lead into the final two innings.

Although Shane Sawczak, who had come in for Jorge Alfonso to close the fifth, was now slated for the win, Summit Christian threatened with two on and none out. Broncos head coach Scott Benedict called senior Brady Roberson over from first base to pitch with the hopes of getting his team out of the jam.

“I’ve got to keep my energy up the whole game because [the coaches] will tell me, ‘If this situation happens, you might go in to pitch,'” Roberson explained afterwards. “So I was warming up between innings while they were taking infield. I just try to stay ready the whole game really.”

The first batter Roberson faced was Scott Murphy. Murphy laid down a successful sacrifice bunt to put the tying run in scoring position with only one out, but Roberson mustered up a big strikeout on a high fastball before forcing a grounder to end the threat. Summit Christian was unable to get anything going in the seventh as Roberson relied on his defense to hold off the Fighting Saints.

Benedict praised the defense for holding Summit Christian to two runs and allowing the team a chance to come back from the early deficit.

“We didn’t make any errors, we played good defense,” he said. “Aside from the two lead-off walks, our pitchers did a really nice job of throwing strikes and trusting the defense. So that’s always good to see.”

Sam Murphy also did a good job of throwing strikes for Summit Christian, working quickly and efficiently, and he was able to toss a complete game. He faced 28 batters and struck out five on the night. Murphy received the loss, Sawczak the win and Roberson the save.

Summit Christian second baseman Chris Carney left the game in the fifith after a collision with Palm Beach Central baserunner Gage Morey at second base. He appeared to have injured his right arm. Morey was also shaken up on the play and left the game the following inning.

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