Dwyer Routs Cardinal Newman 12-1 in Five Innings

Hunter Whitman pitched four shut out innings while striking out five

Game of the Week Photo Gallery

Dwyer manager Frank Torre knew before the game that he needed to see a better performance out of his players. Less than 24 hours ago, the Panthers had defeated the Lake Worth Trojans by a score of 6-2. Despite what seemed like a comfortable victory based off the score, the game was anything but for Torre.

Dwyer needed three runs in the seventh inning to win a game that Torre felt could have easily gone the other way. He knew another performance like that on Saturday night would surely result in a loss to a Cardinal Newman team that was coming in riding a hot streak as of late.

What a big difference 24 hours makes as Torre’s Panthers squad routed the Crusaders 12-1 in the HSBN Palm Beach Game of the Week.

“Our guys responded after a lousy game yesterday,” Torre said. “The team had more energy, was more focused, and more competitive tonight. We competed every at bat, and we need to have that every game.”

The Panthers certainly showed more energy and more of a competitive spirit on the night as they never trailed and the game was never really in doubt.

Dwyer got the momentum going early on the mound as starting pitcher Hunter Whitman retired the first three batters of the game in order. Going four of the five innings, Whitman faced more than four batters in an inning only once, and did not surrender a run or walk.

“He made real good pitches when he needed to,” Torre said. “He got ahead in the count, and when he did get behind he got right back and pounded the zone. Also, no walks, which was the key. He’s come a long way and worked hard, and I’m proud of him.”

Locating his pitches on all corners of the plate and constantly pounding the inside of the plate, Whitman recorded five strikeouts and kept the Cardinal Newman batters off balance all night long.

“I just wanted to hit the zone and I did what the catcher told me to do and just play catch,” Whitman said.

It helped that Whitman had plenty of run support on the night. The Dwyer offense combined for 12 runs on 10 hits and scored at least two runs in each of their four innings that they came to the plate, which was something that Torre was happy to see out of his team.

“We had a lot of good at bats tonight,” Torre said. “We put better swings on the ball and had hard contact. We also had a lot of two out hits which is deflating for the other team. We were out here early today working on keeping our front shoulder in and not pulling the ball for some of the guys.”

Seven of the nine players that came to the plate for the Panthers recorded at least one hit, while eight of the nine players reached base at least once. The offense was led by second baseman Alex Morales who, hitting out of the nine hole, made the most of the opportunities presented to him by going 3-for-3 with two RBIs.

“I felt good at the plate tonight,” Morales said. “I was aggressive and I hit the balls that I got.”

Anthony Magis gets ready to field a ball against Dwyer

For Cardinal Newman, not much went right for them on the night. One of the few bright spots was shortstop Bruce Steel, who went 2-for-3 and drove in the Crusaders’ only run of the night. Overall, it was not the performance that Manager Sean Comfort was expecting out of his squad.

“The team had a very lackadaisical approach tonight,” Comfort said. “From our five errors, to our base-running, our approach at the plate and our lack of enthusiasm, they didn’t seem like they wanted to play today. I hate playing on days where they don’t have school and are off all day. I can’t reiterate enough that when we have a game, make sure to rest, but in the end, it just was not our day today.”

Both teams now have short turnarounds before big district games this upcoming week. Cardinal Newman will look to bounce back Monday against St Andrews, and Comfort knows that mentally his team needs to re-group and re-focus.

“We have to re-adjust mentally,” Comfort said. “More focus for these guys everywhere, one through nine.”

Dwyer will look to ride the momentum of their win Saturday night when they put their seven-game win streak on the line against second place West Boca on Tuesday.

“We need to have a really good practice on Monday and keep working on the things that made us successful tonight. We are looking forward to it,” Torre said.

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