P.B. Lakes Holds On For 11-7 Victory Against Lake Worth

The Rams Ronnie Wilson Jr. bats as Trojans catcher Chase Forrest sets up for the pitch.

Roberto Rodriguez takes as much pride in making the routine plays as he does making the hard ones.

On Monday night, the Palm Beach Lakes sophomore second baseman got his chance to do both as the Rams held off a scrappy Lake Worth team for an 11-7 victory at Dave Manzo Field in Lake Worth.

“I just try to stay loose, have fun and play hard,” Rodriguez said, after shining from both sides of the diamond for the Rams (1-1). “We did a better job of contending tonight. It was a little bit sloppy, but a win is a win and I’m glad we came out with it.”

Rodriguez went 2-for-3 at the plate with a pair of doubles, and came up with a big play on defense by snaring a line-drive that halted an early rally effort, before coming on as a relief pitcher and closing out the win. Although he joked that the coaches may have chosen to leave him in only because they had a moderate lead, he admitted he appreciated that they had that much faith in him even though he does not normally pitch.

“I didn’t expect it, but it was exciting and I was just having fun with it,” Rodriguez said.

For Lakes Manager Dorwin Lynch, the victory is even more satisfying coming against Lake Worth Manager B.J. Gilbert, whom he coached years ago.

But beyond his own personal reward in finally getting one on his former player, Coach Lynch was more pleased by the way his team was able to hang on in the later innings after the Trojans (0-3) overcame a big deficit and made a game of it.

“After giving up some runs they were able to refocus, pull it back together and close it out like good teams do,” Lynch said. “We’re still learning how to be a good team. I’m proud of the way they held on at the end. We went up early, but then the wheels fell off. Tonight we were able to put it back together.”

Lake Worth overcame a 6-0 hole early on, and the Trojans chipped away down the stretch to keep the pressure on and show their new coach that they are ready to adopt a relentless identity.

“We’ve got a saying here where we say ‘Go Get It’. #GGI. We’ve adopted that style that every time we go out here we are trying to go get it,” Coach Gilbert said. “The resilience of my kids makes me proud of them. But we’ve got a lot of things to work on. I’ve never lost to Lakes before.”

The Rams’ Dominique Hale stretches from first as Lake Worth’s Matt Kopp waits on a throw.

Dominique Hale helped spark a big five-run third inning that gave the Rams the deciding runs, as the senior shortstop shortened his swing with the bases loaded to drop the ball into shallow right field and send Wes Thomas and Greg Hester home. Kevin Higgins then scored on a throwing error and Hale came in on a wild pitch to push the lead to 11-2.

Garrett Manning also scored in the fifth when Higgins drew a bases-loaded walk, after he had reached on an error leading off the inning.

Rodriguez was instrumental in putting the Rams up early on with a lead it would hold on to throughout the contest.

After Hale drew a leadoff walk to start the game and eventually scored on a throwing error, Rodriguez blooped a shot that was misjudged by the left fielder and dropped for a double. He then advanced on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch.

In the second inning Rodriguez came back to the plate with the bases loaded and he lined a shot into left field for a standup double that sent home two runners.

“I got under the ball my first at bat, so the second time up I was focused on hitting a line drive,” Rodriguez said.

Third baseman Gio Martinez also had an RBI single in the second, after he got a piece of a pitch enough to roll it on the infield grass and allow catcher Ronnie Wilson to avoid the catcher’s tag and come in from third base.

Martinez went 2-for-5 on the night, while Wes Thomas was 2-for-4 after sparking the second inning with a leadoff single up the middle.

Garrett Manning was also 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base for the Rams, and Greg Hester earned the victory on the mound after throwing 100 total pitches in four and a third innings of work.

Palm Beach Lakes Manager Dorwin Lynch enjoys a reunion with some of his former players, including Trojans’ Manager B.J. Gilbert (far right).

With Trojans freshman starter Tyler Vandersande struggling early, Coach Gilbert was pleased to find a reliable arm he could turn to in freshman Jonathan Rodriguez.

The young right-hander came on in relief in the second inning and went on to close out the game by throwing five and a third innings while allowing only two earned runs.

“When the game is on, Jonathan Rodriguez is ready to go. I’m really proud of him,” Gilbert said. “He came in and threw about eighty pitches and he did his job. My hats off to him right there. He’s going to see a lot more pitching; he earned that tonight.”

Rodriguez actually threw 85 pitches, as he scattered seven hits, walked two and hit two batters while recording four strikeouts.

Senior Matt Kopp led the Trojans’ offense in going 3-for-4 with three stolen bases, and also scored on an RBI single from Vandersande in the sixth, and Lucas Clark was 2-for-4 with a stolen base and an RBI.

The two teams will meet again later this season when Lake Worth travels to play at Palm Beach Lakes on March 18th.

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