Jupiter Dominates Park Vista 9-2 To Reach Semifinals

Kyle Vesnesky led Jupiter’s offense with four hits, including a double, and drive in two runs.

The Jupiter baseball team has taken a page from Alexandre Dumas’ classic Three Musketeers novel — the Warriors are all for one and one for all.

Leadoff hitter Kyle Vesnesky had four hits, starter Lance Fry pitched four strong innings and center fielder Peter Sitaras made two spectacular catches to spark Jupiter’s 9-2 victory over Park Vista in the Class 8A regional quarterfinals Friday night at West Boynton Park.

Jupiter (21-4), which had its quarterfinal game delayed three days because of the bad weather, will host Seminole Ridge at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the regional semifinals.

“Right now, it’s a very talented group,” said Jupiter Manager Andy Mook, of his team that has been No. 1 for most of the season in the PalmBeachHighSchoolBaseball.com rankings. “They play for one another, it’s just fine-tuning little things. The game of baseball, you never know what’s going to happen, so you have to come out and make sure you don’t beat yourselves.”

Vesnesky, a senior third baseman, had four of the Warriors’ 13 hits and drove in two runs as they have won six of their last eight games.

“The break really just helped us,” said Vesnesky. “We had a lot of confidence coming out. We come out as a team and we know we have each other’s backs and we’re real confident we can beat anybody.”

Starter Austin Smith, a sophomore, took the loss for Park Vista.

The Warriors broke through in the fourth inning against Park Vista sophomore starter Austin Smith, taking a 3-0 lead they never relinquished.

They added two runs in each of the next three innings, never letting Park Vista back into the game.

Kyle Keatts went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Kevin Fry was 2-for-2 with two walks. They each scored two runs.

Jupiter has had trouble with the Cobras in the post-season in the recent past. Park Vista defeated Jupiter 9-3 in the 2011 regional semifinals.

“It’s a big win because I knew they’re very talented,” said Mook.”(In 2011), we beat them three times and then they come into the regional game and they knock us out. That’s good that we got to exact a little revenge. But this is one step closer to the goal. And all the kids have that same goal.”

Vesnesky and Keatts, a senior shortstop/pitcher, were on the Jupiter varsity in 2011.

“It means a little bit more,” admitted Vesnesky. “Keatts and I were playing on the team as sophomores and we lost to them and it was a little bitter. So it’s nice to beat them on their home field and get a little bit of revenge.”

Jupiter starter Lance Fry pitched four innings and allowed just three hits.

Fry, a junior right-hander who started and went four innings, Scott Danek and Hunter Halsey limited the Cobras (19-7) to four hits.

The Cobras avoided a shutout with two runs in the sixth on a leadoff double by Trey Amburgey, three consecutive walks to Austin Smith, Tyler Huggins and Branden Cook and a groundout by Gabe Santana.

The game ended in dramatic fashion when Sitaras made a diving catch on Amburgey’s shallow fly ball. Sitaras also provided the best defensive play on the first pitch of the game, laying out in deep left-center to catch Matthew Mika’s drive, probably preventing a triple.

“Player for player Jupiter is as good a team as we’ve seen — for a long time,” said Park Vista manager Larry Greenstein. “I tip my cap to them. They played a solid game and we just couldn’t keep up with the big horses today, and that’s OK, it happens. They’re a good ballclub. I expect them to go far.”

The Cobras lose several starters to graduation but were a young team by most standards.

“I’m proud of our guys,” said Greenstein. “We accomplished a lot. We have a really young squad. Everybody knew it. Nobody expected much. Our five seniors really stepped up to hold down the young guys. They’re good leaders and I’m proud of this group.”

Leave a comment using your facebook account!