Dwyer Pulls Out Late Tournament Victory Over West Broward

Hunter Hope bats against West Broward during the Selective Recruiting Invitational game played Monday at Nova Southeastern University.

As Dwyer Manager Frank Torre put it, sometimes you’ve got to get a little luck.

The Panthers capitalized on a few defensive micues in the top of the seventh to come back for a 3-1 victory over West Broward on Monday night, in the opener of the Selective Recruiting-Sir Pizza Invitational tournament played at Ian Besler Field at Nova Southeastern University.

Connor Webb and Griffin Locke both scored on an infield throwing error, and the Panthers added an insurance run after another error extended the inning.

“Unfortunately it took a mistake by them, but that’s baseball,” Torre said. “But you kind of make your own luck too. If you put yourself in those situations, if you put the ball in play and put some guys on.”

Down to their final swings trailing 1-0, Dwyer (6-7) did exactly that.

Travis Braun drew a one-out walk, and was replaced by Webb on the bases.

The Bobcats (7-4) went to the bullpen for Matt Hardy, who came in looking for his first save of the season. But Hardy quickly ran into trouble after hitting Chase Coppersmith with a pitch and walking Victor Didiego to load the bases and bring up Austin Marrs.

Marrs put the ball in play for the winning runs when the defense was unable to complete the back end of a double-play attempt.

He added an insurance run later in the inning when the Panthers executed a double steal from first and third that worked in pushing Marrs across the plate

Dwyer ace Cheyne Bickell had battled through five scoreless innings before West Broward managed a run off of him in the sixth. But now that his team had lifted him back up, there was no question that he was coming back on the mound to close it out.

“All I can ask for as a pitcher is a great team to pitch for,” said Bickell. “I know they’ve got my back in case I give up a run; I know they will carry us back.”

By game’s end Bickell would throw 103 pitches, and 67 of those would go for a strike. With the team’s adrenaline pumping after taking the lead, Bickell fired a blazing first-pitch fastball for a called strike to start the bottom of the seventh.

For the team’s ace pitcher, it was a moment of solidarity that shows how far this squad has come since their early season struggles.

“At the beginning of the season we weren’t all together and that’s why we lost some games,” Bickell admitted. “We all came together and now everyone is fighting for each other. You fight for me, I’m just going to fight right back for you.”

He then struck out the side swinging to end the contest, closing with 12 strikeouts in all while allowing two hits, two walks and hitting a batter.

“When he can smell a victory a little something extra comes out,” Torre said of his stud pitcher and future Ole Miss player. “He tends to get stronger as the game goes on. Like many good pitchers he gets into the flow of the game. He gets that little extra and he lets it go.”

Dwyer’s Adam Edelmann leads off at first base as West Broward’s Hector Abreu anticipates a throw.

West Broward finally broke through in the sixth, when Danny Pardo drove a liner to shallow left field to score Aires Rivera.

Rivera had reached when he was hit by a pitch, and then advanced on an error. The miscues were surprising, as it came just after Panthers shortstop Hunter Hope opened the inning with the play of the game when he chased down a liner deep through the left side and then threw off of his back foot to somehow perfectly find the glove of the first baseman Coppersmith to record the out.

The tournament features many of South Florida’s top baseball programs competing for a chance at the championship game, played at the University of Miami on Saturday.

Monday’s game also represented a chance for the two programs to get a look at one another, as each team is a strong contender in Class 8A.

“That is one of the best high school games I’ve been involved in for a long time,” Bobcats Manager Sergio Ambros said. “This is exactly why we did this; we want to get ourselves in preparation for the playoffs. We wanted this type of atmosphere against this type of team. It so happens Dwyer is also an 8A team we might see if we advance down the road, so maybe we get a rematch.”

Dwyer stretches its winning streak in this tournament to five games, dating back to last season when they were a perfect 4-0. But after failing to qualify for the championship game last year, the Panthers are back on a mission this season.

“We left some unfinished business last year,” said Bickell. “So hopefully we can come back and finish it off.”

Dwyer next plays on Tuesday against Doral Academy at Columbus High in Miami.

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