Seniors Pace Gardens In Walk-Off Win Against Summit Christian

Gardens celebrates after the walkoff and lines up to shake hands with Summit Christian.

On senior night at Palm Beach Gardens, the class of 2012 made its presence felt for the Gators all night. It was senior shortstop Nick Oberg who hit a walk-off double to right field to clinch the walk-off 8-7 victory for Gardens, and senior Darren Hansen who reached base earlier in the inning to set the table for Oberg.

In the top of the first, the Fighting Saints got on the scoreboard with a single from leadoff hitter Brandon Swass and an RBI single three batters later by Sam Murphy.

In the home half of the first, Summit Christian starting pitcher Anthony Delaney retired the first two Gators he faced. However, it was senior second baseman Jean Cancio who turned the tide. Cancio battled to a full count and fouled off a couple Delaney pitches before earning a base-on-balls. After Cancio stole second, cleanup hitter Pavin Smith drove him home with a single to left. Following a JJ Schwarz single up the middle, senior catcher James Jean piped a fly ball over the left-field fence for a three-run home run. The Gators led 4-1 after one.

Palm Beach Gardens added one more in the second and another in the third inning, giving senior starting pitcher Hunter Kempton a five-run cushion going into the fourth.

But the bats came alive in the fourth for Summit Christian. The Saints tallied four hits in the frame, including an RBI double to right from the pitcher Delaney and a two-RBI single from Tyler Dupont. Senior Dalton Lew came in to the game for Gardens with two runners on, but he registered a big strikeout to end the threat after walking the bases loaded. All told, the Saints scored five in the inning to tie the game 6-6.

Gardens responded in kind with a run of their own when Nick Gallo scored on a Pavin Smith sacrifice fly to center. The Gators’ 7-6 lead was short-lived though, as Delaney hit another double and the Saints followed the hit with four walks. The walk drawn by Dupont tied the game again at the end of five.

With Cameron Romaine in to close the game for Palm Beach Gardens, the Saints continued to apply the pressure. Catcher John Silviano walked for the fourth time of the night to start the sixth. After a Sam Murphy sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch, Silviano stood on third with just one out. Delaney drove a ball to center, and Silviano attempted to tag, but the center fielder Nick Horvath fired a strike to home plate to prevent Summit Christian from taking the lead. The double play also ended the inning. The Saints loaded the bases again in the seventh with none out, but Romaine was able to battle his way out of the jam.

The Gators had been unable to get much going off of Saints reliever Sam Murphy since he took the mound in the fifth. But in the seventh, Darren Hansen hit a single up the middle with one out to bring up Oberg. Oberg found a pitch he liked and drove it deep into the right-field gap. It was good enough to score the runner from first and give the Gators their 12th win in their past 13 contests.

“Darren started off the inning with a hit to get everything going for us, and I had my adrenaline going,” said Oberg after the game and a Gatorade shower from his teammates. “The pitcher put it right there, and I turned on it.”

“We’re finding ways to win,” Gardens head coach Joe Russo said. “We had a pitcher make his first appearance of the season tonight with the bases loaded and no outs. It’s fun. We made some defensive plays when we had to and made some pitches when we had to.”

Although Summit Christian suffered another close loss, head coach John Drouin was happy with his team’s effort.

“It was a good game tonight, great game. I was happy to be a part of it,” he said.

“But we left the bases loaded with no outs. We let the pressure get to us. You have to want to be in that position, you’ve got to have that Michael Jordan mentality. Some of our kids are still young.”

Summit Christian is gaining experience quickly from playing so many close games, and meanwhile, Gardens is taking full advantage of its experienced roster, which includes 12 seniors. Gardens plays again tonight against district-rival Jupiter.

“Hopefully with the adrenaline pumping, we’ll just roll right into our next game,” Oberg said. “Everyone is giving 100 percent right now. No one is dogging it, and everything is just clicking as a team.”

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