Lake Worth Earns First Win Of The Year In Opener Of Its Tournament

Lake Worth’s Daltan Scragg bats against Tigers starter Abrel Jimenez. Scragg was 1-for-3 with an RBI single.

Winning never comes easy.

The young Lake Worth baseball team knows this all too well after starting the 2012 season with 13 consecutive losses.

But on the opening day of the school’s Spring Break tournament, the Trojans finally got the monkey off their backs with a dramatic come-from-behind 11-6 victory over Boynton Beach.

For the first time this season, the Trojans were able to walk off their home turf at Dave Manzo Field to celebrate a big win.

Lake Worth also remains in contention for the championship, which will be played Thursday.

“We’re just trying to win and it felt like the team is improving,” junior Shaun Steele said. “We are trying to build game by game, and today was a big improvement.”

Trailing 3-0, the Trojans exploded for five runs in the fourth inning and then tacked on another six in the fifth to run away with the win. Lake Worth was able to capitalize on numerous mistakes from the Tigers (3-9), who issued 10 walks and committed three errors during a disastrous stretch that erased the positive start they had to the tournament’s Monday evening contest.

After freshman Ben Fagan blooped a single to load the bases in the fourth, senior Cory Moore came up with the Trojans’ biggest hit of the season when he drove a single through the gap to score Shaun Steele.

Just like that the water was running and it seemed like the tap was broken.

Lake Worth batted around the order in both the fourth and fifth innings, managing just one more hit the rest of the way despite the scoring production. Junior Daltan Scragg recorded an RBI single to cap the fourth, and the rest of the Trojans’ runs came via free passes or errors.

Trojans starter Ty Dowdy earned the victory with four solid innings of work on the mound.

“The first few innings, we played baseball, but we let it get away from us really quickly,” Tigers coach Evan D’Angelo said. “Walks killed us, and we let the game get away from us. All we can do is keep our chin up and go back at it tomorrow.”

Early on, Boynton Beach had been in complete control in taking an early lead and keeping the Trojans in check. Junior starter Abrels Jimenez tossed three scoreless innings, allowing but one walk and a single to Lake Worth starting pitcher Ty Dowdy.

Meanwhile the Tigers’ offense jumped on Dowdy early when senior Shawn Isaac sent a deep shot to center for a two-run double, scoring Victor Hughes and Chris Escobar.

Boynton increased its lead in the second as it used timely hitting to load the bases and push another runner across. Sophomore Kyle Tedesco led off with a single, and freshman Christian Perez reached after his infield dribbler along the right grass pulled the first baseman off the base and allowed him to slide in safely ahead of the fielder. Alan Russell then walked to load the bases. Senior William Marsielle came up with a big hit to the left gap that the shortstop was able to field but unable to make a play anywhere once he had the ball in his glove, allowing Kyle Tedesco to score.

Boynton Beach’s Isaac Cruz bats in the top of the first inning.

But Dowdy settled down from there and pitched two scoreless frames before turning it over to Sean Steele, who closed it out to secure Dowdy’s victory.

“I kept telling coach I was ready,” Shaun Steele said. “I trust the team behind me and just focused on throwing strikes.”

While Dowdy had issued mostly off-speed stuff, his reliever came out throwing primarily fastballs, and the Tigers struggled to readjust.

Boynton did push three across in the seventh, sparked by an RBI hit by Victor Hughes in which the ball ended up in the dugout to allow Hughes to also come around and score on the play. Marsielle also scored in the inning, but it was too little too late as the hosts closed it out with the next three batters.

“It feels good for the kids, the game is over and they are all smiling in the dugout,” Lake Worth coach Mychal Teman said. “It’s good for them after what they go through on a daily basis, for them to see how it pays off.”

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