Gardens Showcases Its Pitching In Win Over Seminole Ridge

Matt Williams went 1-for-4 while driving in the Gators’ lone RBI on the night.

The Palm Beach Gardens Gators used pitching and timely hitting to beat the Seminole Ridge Hawks 3-0 in their final preseason tune-up before the regular season starts next week.

The Gators used four pitchers who combined to throw a two-hit shutout while striking out nine and walking one. Joey Boyd started the game and got the win, throwing two hitless innings, striking out four and allowing the only walk of the game. Tanner Hurley then came in and pitched the third and fourth innings, allowing one hit.

Newcomer Will Guay took over in the fifth and pitched through the sixth, giving up a hit while striking out two in his first appearance since joining the team in the offseason. Nick Gallo struck out the side in the seventh to get the save and preserve the shutout.

Overall, Palm Beach Gardens had four 1-2-3 innings on the mound, something that Mananger Joe Russo knows will be a key for the team this year.

“We did a good job working ahead,” Russo said. “We seemed to do a good job of staying ahead of batters tonight. We threw our breaking balls for strikes a little bit more, and anytime you can throw four guys out there and they all do a good job, you feel pretty good about it.”

With the pitching staff and defense doing what they needed to, the offense gave them the few runs that they needed to secure the victory. It all started in the second inning when after two quick outs, Nick Horvath drew a walk to be the first runner of the inning on base. After Horvath stole second, right fielder Harley Sanicky laid down a well-executed bunt for a single. Hawks pitcher Jake Paez made a throwing error while attempting to make the throw to first, allowing Horvath to come around and score for the first run of the game.

The third inning got started with first baseman Pavin Smith getting the first of his three hits on the night when he singled to get the inning started. After catcher JJ Schwarz grounded out to second, allowing Smith to advance to second, third baseman Matt Williams singled to right, driving in Smith and giving the Gators their second run of the game.

Palm Beach Gardens got its final run of the game in the fifth when Gallo led off the inning with a single to left. Hunter Sanicky laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Gallo to second, but smart baserunning by Gallo got him all the way to third. He came in on an error when the Seminole Ridge center fielder dropped a pop fly.

Hawks starting pitcher Jake Paez threw two innings, striking out two while giving up two hits and a walk.

Pavin Smith led the Gators offensively, going 3-for-4 with two singles and a triple.

“I felt good at the plate tonight,” Smith said. “I let the ball travel and hit it the other way.”

Despite the win, Russo knows that there is still plenty to work on as his team continues to prepare for the start of the regular season.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Russo said. “We have some things we have to tighten up. We have to do a better job swinging the bat. We had plenty of opportunities tonight and that we didn’t take advantage of. The bunting game has to come around, too, as well as some baserunning mistakes, so there is still a ton of things we have to work on.”

Carmine Ciafaletti lead the Hawks in hitting, going 1-for-2 with a single and a walk. 

Despite the loss, there are several positives Seminole Ridge can take away from the preseason.

“The pitching has been good the last two days,” Seminole Ridge Manager Trent Pendergast said. “They have thrown strikes and we’ve got some guys who can make pitches and get outs. So that is one of the main positives that we take out of it.”

Palm Beach Gardens opens up its regular season at home Friday against Coral Reef, while Seminole Ridge starts Monday at Forest Hill.

Leave a comment using your facebook account!