Jupiter Christian Wins Home Opener 5-3

Devin Perlman went three innings allowing no hits while striking out seven.

For the third straight year, the Jupiter Christian Eagles opened their season against the Boynton Beach Tigers, and for the third straight year won their opening game. In front of their home crowd at Jupiter Community Park, the 2014 version of the Eagles won 5-3 behind a combined two-hitter from its pitching staff and nine hits at the plate.

Jupiter Christian starter Devin Perlman threw three no-hit innings while striking out seven to get the Eagles started off on the right foot. While he struggled with his control early in the first, he settled down nicely and got his three innings of work in, something Manager David Loud went into the game wanting to see.

“All our pitchers did exactly what they were supposed to do,” Loud said. “Three innings for Devin, three innings for Luke {Sellers}, and one inning for Shane {Shuba} this way they are all available for Thursday. Devin had a rough first but he calmed down and got right to it.”

Constantly pounding the outside corner all night, Perlman, Sellers, and Shuba were able to get the Boynton Beach batters out of their comfort zone.

“It’s always been our philosophy to pound that corner,” Loud said. “It is usually a weakness for a lot of good teams. We came in a few times and hit a few guys so we kept throwing away so we wouldn’t get into trouble.”

While Perlman was impressive on the mound he was arguably even more impressive off of it. In addition to his three no-hit innings, he went 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. He also made a potential game-saving catch in left field with one out in the seventh.

Down two with a runner on second and one out, Boynton’s Lewis Cepeda came to the plate and hit a long fly ball to left field. Perlman had to back track and catch the ball while looking over his shoulder, saving a sure run and possibly even the game.

“When that ball was hit all I could think was I better catch this,” Pearlman said. “As a pitcher you understand when a fly ball goes up it’s a little nerve-wracking. Our coach has a big rule that any ball in the air is an out so I knew if I wasn’t catching that one I would be in trouble.”

Christian Perez struck out five in five innings of work.

Perlman wasn’t the only one who had a big night at the plate. Senior Jon Shuba went 2-for-3 with two doubles and a single. His second double of the night in the third inning was just inches short of a home run when it caromed off of the bottom of the outfield fence.

“I felt great at the plate tonight,” the elder Shuba said. “Before the game Coach helped me make a little adjustment with my hands and it went well. I was just trying to drive my teammates in.”

For Boynton Beach, there were several positives to take out of the game, including the play of freshman right fielder Brandon McCabe.

“Tonight I saw my freshman right fielder chasing balls down in the gap which was phenomenal,” said Manager John Drouin, who was coaching his first game as the new Tiger’s skipper. “He hit the ball hard every time. He is going to be a beast in a couple of years when he gets older, because he can run and he can throw.”

Drouin knows that the biggest key to his team’s success not just this year but in the long run is to build a winning program again, and that starts with keeping the local talent at their home school.

“We need to make sure that the kids at our school stay at our school,” said Drouin. “It is a great school, an A school; and if we can get those kids to stay home, we can build a powerhouse. There is a lot of talent in our district that are going to different schools, and we want them to come here.”

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