Rhodes Leads Park Vista Into District Final With Shutout Of Seminole Ridge

Park Vista star pitcher Brandon Rhodes (number 3) and teammates gather on the mound to discuss strategy.

Brandon Rhodes proved why he’s probably the best pitcher in Palm Beach County.

The senior lefthander threw a complete-game, two-hit shutout to lead top-seeded Park Vista over fourth-seeded Seminole Ridge 3-0 in the District 10-8A semifinal Thursday in Boynton Beach.

The Cobras (21-4), who have won 10 consecutive games, will host third-seeded Boca Raton Thursday at 7 p.m. in the district final. Park Vista defeated Boca twice during the regular season.

“He’s been awesome, he’s done a great job,” said Park Vista manager Larry Greenstein of Rhodes, who now has 76 strikeouts in 65.2 innings.

Rhodes, who struck out seven and walked just one, did not allow a hit until Courtney King doubled to right-center on a 1-0 pitch to lead off the sixth inning.

Rhodes then walked Marcus Mooney, prompting Greenstein to visit the mound.

“Really, I wanted to give him a little blow,” said Greenstein. “Let him gather himself. He was fine. And we wanted to talk bunt defense. That was a crucial part (of the game). It was 3-0 and they had two guys on and no outs. So I wanted to make sure we had it right. He was fine.”

Rhodes struck out the next two batters and King was thrown out attempting to steal third to end the threat.

“(Greenstein) just went out there to calm us down,” said Rhodes. “He said everything’s OK, we’ll get out of it.”

Even though the Hawks (11-15) got their first two hitters on base in the seventh, Rhodes induced a double-play grounder and needed just seven pitches to finish with 77 en route to improving his record to 11-1. His only loss came in relief against Palm Beach Central.

“This is complete game number seven out of 11 starts,” said Greenstein. “That says it all right there.”

Seminole Ridge pitcher Zach Berry proved an equal to Rhodes throughout much of the game, striking out four and walking two while throwing 75 pitches.

But Park Vista got to him in the third. Shane Bussey singled to left with one out and scored when Matthew Mika’s sacrifice bunt was thrown into right field. Mika scored on Tyler Kendall’s RBI double down the right-field line.

Seminole Ridge manager Trent Pendergast was pleased with Berry’s performance.

“He pitched great,” said Pendergast. “Some days are like this for him where we don’t score any runs for him. It’s tough. He goes out there and battles his butt off.”

Pendergast was also impressed by Rhodes, who struck out pinch-hitter Trent Bellamny on a fastball to end the game.

“Their guy pitched phenomenal,” said Pendergast. “You’ve got to give him all the credit in the world. He’s worth all the hype. He’s awesome.”

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