Dwyer Pounds John I. Leonard 7-0 in Season Opener

Dwyer coach Frank Torre talks with his team after the win

Cheyne Bickel wanted to keep going.

With his fastball nearly in mid-season form and his curve ball finally dropping, the Dwyer pitcher didn’t want to leave the game. But with the contest firmly in hand, Bickel watched as his bullpen preserved his shutout en route to a 7-0 victory over host John I. Leonard in the season opener Tuesday.

“He’s one who tends to get better as the game goes on, so he wanted to stay out there, but we’ve got a long season ahead and he threw 60 pitches, so that was enough,” Panthers coach Frank Torre said.

Bickel struck out five batters in five innings and allowed just three hits, only one of which left the infield.

The Panthers (1-0) didn’t waste any time providing their ace with some support as they jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning, before Bickel even stepped on the mound.

Sophomore Duke Stunkel opened the scoring with an RBI double, and Patrick Pinak’s double to dead center scored two more. Pinak finished 3-for-4 with three RBI.

“We didn’t want to wait until the second time in the order to jump on them,” Torre said. “We wanted to be aggressive, and they were. They swung the bats real well. As a former pitcher, I know getting a four-run lead is always nice. It makes you relax and attack, and it’s always easier to attack when you get that little cushion.”

Senior Jamal Martin opened the third with a double and scored on a Pinak single. Martin went 2-for-3 with two runs and a stolen base. Hunter Hope’s RBI double put Dwyer up 7-0, and that’s when Bickel really settled into a groove.

The junior’s fastball started topping out at 90 mph and his curve ball became unhittable. He retired nine of the final 11 batters he faced, three via the strikeout.

Bickel said the win was nice, but he’s already looking forward to his next scheduled start, when the Panthers will square off against fellow District 9-8A power Palm Beach Central on Feb. 21.

Following Dwyer’s seven-run explosion, the Lancers (0-1) got a strong effort from junior pitcher Austin Hernandez, who came on in relief.

Over the game’s final five innings, Hernandez quieted the Panthers bats, striking out four and allowing just one unearned run. He also drew two walks at the plate and stole a base.

“Austin came in, went up against a tough lineup and hit his spots with velocity. He had them off balance with the curve ball, and they couldn’t hit him. It was beautiful pitching,” Lancers coach Roger Vazquez said. “He’s one of the guy’s we’re going to look at as the season goes on to either keep us in the game or win a lot of ball games for us.”

Although the Lancers didn’t have too many base runners on the night, Vazquez’s aggressive approach on the base paths was apparent when someone did reach. Of his eight players to reach base, Vazquez gave four of them the steal sign and all advanced successfully.

“That’s my style of attack,” Vazquez said. “We don’t have big batters, but we’ve got speed. I put the speed on my team up against any other team.”

Despite the lopsided loss, the Lancers coach said only good would come from facing a tough opponent like Dwyer.

“Right from the beginning we’re playing tough teams,” Vazquez said. “I want [my guys] to step it up to that level and that’s why we wanted to play Dwyer right off the bat.”

The road doesn’t get any easier for Leonard, which faces off against Wellington on Wednesday.

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