Royal Palm Beach Uses Small Ball To Edge Santaluces

Connor Brennan waits for his at-bat.

District 7A-13 powers Royal Palm Beach and Santaluces matched up Friday night for sole possession of first place. After starting the season 7-1, the Wildcats wanted to show their prowess over the newly formed district. However, it didn’t come easy against the fiery Chiefs.

In big match-ups like Friday’s, there is a heightened emphasis on execution. The key to success is to execute in crucial moments, and Friday night, the Wildcats’ execution of the bunt resulted in a 1-0 victory.

“We work really hard on it [bunting],” coach Brian Joros said. “We have a lot of guys that can bunt. They can bunt to both sides. We make no secret that doing the small things well is important to us, and we work hard on that. And it paid off tonight.”

Both pitchers threw flawlessly through four innings of play. Royal Palm Beach right-hander Justin Lauginiger had his curve ball working as he pitched four shutout innings.

“That is the pitch my coach has total cofidence in me,” Lauginiger said about his curve ball. “I will throw it when I’m behind 2-1, or 3-1, because it fools them.”

He did just that, striking out nine in six innings.

He was opposed by left-hander Hunter Kyzar, who was overwhelming hitters as well. His fastball kept the bats off the ball though four shutout innings. However, he ran into trouble in his last inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Wildcats found a way to scratch out a run. After a lead-off walk to freshman Brandon Hernandez, the Chiefs misplayed a bunt that put two runners on. The play brought about some controversy, as the runner collided with the first baseman’s glove while trying to beat out the bunt.

“I thought the catch was established,” Santaluces coach Nick Franco said. “As the base-runner was crossing, I thought his foot knocked the ball out, so I asked the first-base umpire to ask for help to see if the home-plate umpire could confirm an established catch.”

After further review, both umpires ruled the play legal and allowed for Connor Rose to stay on base. Justin Douglas then placed a perfect bunt down the line for a single to load the bases.

So the stage was set for lead-off hitter Christopher Barr, who battled back from an 0-2 count to hit a sacrifice fly to left to bring in Hernandez. The Warriors loaded the bases again, but Kyzar proved too tough as he struck out the next batter and induced an inning-ending flyout to keep the score 1-0.

The sixth was quiet, but in the bottom of the seventh, the Chiefs made noise when lead-off hitter Dominic Teresi smacked a double in the gap. After a walk, the Chiefs tried to bunt the runners up, but Teresi was forced out at third. From then on, reliever Jordan Lauginiger finished the final frame by inducing two flyouts to record the save.

Despite the loss, Franco believes his team is very close.

“I tell the kids to keep working hard,” Franco said. “We’ve been in every game. If you take a close look at the boxscores, you’ll see we have been in every game. We are close to figuring out how to win a close game.”

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