Park Vista Comes From Behind To Top John I. Leonard

Park Vista players mob Tyler Barre after he hits a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh.

Tyler Burre hit a walk off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Park Vista Cobras beat the John I. Leonard Lancers 4-3 on Friday night to move to 5-0 in District 8A-10.

The atmosphere was that of a postseason game, not a game in mid-March, and it was intensified throughout as the teams battled from the first out to the last to get and maintain the lead.

In the end, it was the Cobras (9-2) who left the battle victorious as they rallied from two runs down in the sixth to end up with the walk-off win.

“I’ve been really impressed with how our young guys have handled failure,” Park Vista Manager Larry Greenstein said. “You’re going to fail in this game. It’s just the nature of the game. And how you handle failure will determine how successful you will be down the road, and they just did not give up tonight.”

Park Vista used a balanced combination of effective pitching and timely hitting to come out of the back-and-forth battle victorious.

The Cobras got out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning.

Shortstop Matthew Mika got the first of his three hits on the night with a single to lead off the game. After two quick outs that allowed him to advance to third, he came around and scored on a throwing error on a grounder hit by starting pitcher Austin Smith.

Smith took advantage of that lead by shutting down the Lancers’ offense for the first three innings, including striking out the side in order on the second.

John I. Leonard (6-3, 3-2) was able to plate a run in the fourth before a costly baserunning mistake turned into a double play and ended their inning.

Smith got back into his groove in the fifth allowing only one runner on base.

He got another run from his offense in the bottom half of the fifth to regain the lead when it was once again Mika with another hit. This time it was an RBI double to score third baseman Nyle Newland, who led off the inning with a single.

John I. Leonard pitcher Jared Johnson pitched a complete game.

Smith found himself in some trouble in the top half of the sixth, allowing two runs in the inning before being taken out for reliever Joey Calamita. In the end, Smith ended up with the no decision but pitched five and two-thirds innings and struck out nine.

Calamita came in and got a quick out to end the sixth. He started the seventh off by allowing the first two batters on base, but bounced back to get the next three out in order.

“There was a lot of adrenaline out there,” Calamita said. “I knew if I could hold it our offense would get us more than one run so I just tried to throw strikes. I started off with a walk coming into the seventh and I knew my defense would have my back, and I just kept throwing strikes.”

Calamita was right. After he came in and got them out of the jam in the top of the sixth, the Cobras offense came out and tied the game up in the bottom half of the inning.

Mika, who went 3-for-3 on the night with a double, two singles, and an RBI, led off the top of the seventh with a walk. He then proceeded to steal second, and advance to third on a passed ball. Catcher Tyler Barre hit a sacrifice fly to center and it was deep enough to score Mika for the winning run, giving Calamita the win.

For John I Leonard, Jared Johnson pitched a complete game and Noel Canete went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

For Lancers Manager Roger Vasquez it came down to one thing, execution.

“We didn’t execute and they did,” Vasquez said. “I can’t say enough about our pitcher Jared. He kept us in the game, hitting his spots, and had them off balance. We were right there with them.”

Park Vista returns to the field Saturday night, when it heads up to face Dwyer before playing back-to-back district games next week. John I. Leonard is off until Monday when it will look to bounce back against Forest Hill.

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