Austin Smith Paints A Win For Park Vista

Park Vista’s Austin Smith struck out five, and walked zero in five scoreless innings. He went 3-for-4 to help his own cause.

In 8A-10 every game gets harder as the season progresses. With more than just a district title on their minds, Park Vista wanted to leave with a bang Wednesday night in Boca. Up against a district foe, the Cobras were seeing the baseball as a “watermelon”, tallying up 15 hits in their 10-2 win.

Before the fans had a chance to finish trickling in from the parking lot, the Bobcats found themselves in a 3-0 hole. Swinging the bat fiercely for the Cobras throughout the night, senior captain Tyler Barre drove in the first run on a double in the left-centerfield gap. Right-handed ace Austin Smith, helped himself in the first by driving in a run and later scoring to give the Cobras an early lead.

Arguably one of the top pitchers in the county took the mound for the Cobras in an attempt to stay perfect. Smith, who threw five scoreless innings, allowed a lead-off hit to Mike Spooner. After eight straight retired Bobcats, Spooner got the best of Smith again, drilling a fastball over the right fielders head for a double. Smith was able to keep the Bobcats off balance the rest of the night with all three pitches working to perfection, not giving up one walk.

“When I went out there I was loose. I was just finding the zone and filling it up, throwing strikes and hitting my spots,” said Smith. When asked what his favorite pitch, Smith replied, “Fastball. I just painted the outside corner all night.”

In the second, Barre hit a ball off the left-field fence that didn’t get more than ten feet high, driving in his second run in as many at-bats. As a proud father watched, the visiting Cobras fans and friends roared when Nyle Newman gave them a 7-0 lead in the third. Newman went opposite field for Park Vista’s first home run of the season, his only hit of the night.

In the top of the sixth the Cobras looked to end the game early. Dakota Julylia hit a ball back up the middle that rolled all the way to the fence, putting Julylia on third. Julylia picked up his second RBI on the at-bat and scored a few pitches later on Barre’s third single for the night. Barres went 3-for-5 with two doubles, two runs, and three RBIs on the day.

Tacking one more on in the sixth on a fielder’s choice RBI from Tyler Huggins, Cobra’s Manager Larry Greenstein chose not to send Smith back out to the hill with a 10 run lead.

“We’ve only had four games, lighting canceled one game. We were wondering how we need to keep our guys ready. We’ve been trying to do some live scrimmages in getting pitchers throwing live against hitters. Hitters seeing live pitching to keep the momentum going,” said Greenstein.” “But you know, Austin did a great job tonight. He was locating all three pitches, fastball, curve-ball, change-up. He has some good v-low going and when he is throwing downhill he’s very tough. He is a horse out there and he was our go to guy last year, and now just better then ever.”

Austin Schultz provided two scoreless relief innings for the Bobcats and struck out two.

With his third hit of the game, Spooner reached base in hope to extend the game and force a comeback for the Bobcats. Spooner scored on Mike Smicikilas’s double down the third base line. T.J Tamaccio then watched his first hit of the night sail over the left-field fence.

After an infield hit, Alex Levy struck out the next two for the Cobras, closing the door on their first district win of the season.

“We had eight hits. Eight hits should be enough to keep you in the game. Yeah, we faced a tough pitcher, Austin Smith’s one of the best in the district, maybe the best in the county. We just came out flat defensively, and didn’t make the routine plays,” said Bobcats Manager Scott Morrison. “It’s early, and we have one under our belt. At the end of the day a loss is a loss. You don’t want to lose by eight by any means, but this one will hurt for a little bit and we will have the opportunity to come back Friday and get a win.”

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