Royal Palm Beach Secures Top Seed With 5-4 Win Over Santaluces

Hunter Kyzar on deck.

Royal Palm Beach got the win Thursday night at Santaluces and ran the regular-season table in District 7A-13 to clinch the number one seed.

The Santaluces Chiefs, however, refused to go down easy as they rallied to a one-run ballgame in the bottom of the seventh.

Santaluces got a couple runners aboard in the first because of two Panthers errors, but the Chiefs didn’t tally their first hit against Royal Palm Beach ace Justin Lauginiger until the fourth inning. An error on Hunter Kyzar’s grounder to short and an Eric Cabrera double to right center field put the Chiefs on the board.

The Panthers struck first an inning earlier. Justin Douglas started the frame with a single up the middle followed by a Christopher Barr walk. Brandon Hernandez loaded the bases with a beautiful bunt single down the third-base path. Two batters later, Justin Lauginiger came to the dish and stroked a two-run single to left off Santaluces starter Hunter Kyzar. Dakota Mitchell made it a 3-0 game with a single that drove in Hernandez.

It was a 3-1 contest through four innings and remained there until the top of the sixth. Senior Connor Rose was hit by pitch to start the inning. Barr kept the inning alive two batters later with another walk. The catcher Hernandez legged out an infield single and when the first baseman dropped the ball, Rose scored from second on a heads-up play. Kyle Houck walked to load the bases before a wild pitch plated Barr to make it 5-1 through five and a half.

Justin Lauginiger was still on the mound for the Panthers heading to the home half of the seventh and the score still at 5-1. With one out, freshman DH Anthony Nichols hit a double to right field. Lauginiger induced a groundout to second base, while Nichols stole third base. That sent senior leadoff man Zack Salvidar to the plate. On a slow chopper to second, Salvidar showed off his wheels and hustled, beating out the throw to first with a head-first slide, all while Nichols scored in the process. After Salvidar stole second base, fellow senior Ernie Cabrera singled to right. Then catcher Dominic Teresi hit another single to left to bring in Salvidar to make the score 5-3. Justin Lauginiger walked Kyzar to load the bases, and the Panthers called on Jordan Lauginiger to escape the jam.

Santaluces senior Doug Wright extended the game with an infield single that scored Ernie Cabrera from third to make it 5-4 in favor of the Panthers. With the bases still loaded, and the potential winning run on second base, senior Braden Giffin hit a solid line drive to the outfield, but Panthers center fielder Dakota Mitchell was able to range to his left to make the play.

Jordan Lauginiger got the save for his brother, Justin, who got the win.

Santaluces had a chance at the number one seed in the district with a win, but Royal Palm Beach ultimately hung on.

“We’ve been battling all year. Our record doesn’t dictate how well we’ve played,” Santaluces head coach Nick Franco said. “I’m proud of my guys for battling. We could have easily just walked away in the seventh inning with our tails between our legs.”

The Chiefs finished district play at 4-2 and will hold the second seed come playoff time.

“We knew they weren’t going to give up. We played them to a 1-0 win last time in a game that came down to the last pitch, and I expect nothing else out of a Nick Franco-coached team,” assistant coach Bart Wible said in Brian Joros’ absence.

The Panthers secured their 20th win in the regular season, but Justin Lauginiger hopes his team can accomplish more than that:

“I think we can win our first-round game, and I expect to see either Forest Hill or Santaluces in the district finals,” Lauginiger said.

Justin said that he certainly looks forward to competing for a state championship, but he was quick to praise the Chiefs as well.

“I give them credit. Their coaching is good. Their third time through the lineup, they hit the ball. I relied on my defense, but they found some holes. I already thanked my brother Jordan [for the win]. He’s been my biggest supporter all year on the field and at home.”

Jordan Lauginiger closed the door for the Panthers in the seventh as he has frequently done throughout the year.

Zack Salvidar was 2-for-4 with a run scored and one RBI for the Chiefs while Brandon Hernandez was 3-for-4 with one run scored and one driven in for the Panthers.

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