Wellington Edges Seminole Ridge 2-1 On Bigtree’s Big Hit

Jake Summey had two hits and scored both runs in Wellington’s victory.

Wellington’s Danny Bigtree is the epitome of a team player.

Bigtree laid down two sacrifice bunts and doubled home the winning run in the Wolverines 2-1 triumph over Seminole Ridge in a District 8A-9 game Friday night.

“Danny is a gamer,” Wellington Manager Scott Riddle said of his senior outfielder. “He’s a baseball rat; if there’s anything that needs to be done, he will sacrifice his batting average, he will sacrifice his body, he’ll do whatever he needs to do to help the team to win. He’s that kind of player.”

In the bottom of the first inning, leadoff hitter Jake Summey reached first on an error and moved to second when a pickoff throw was dropped by the first baseman.

Bigtree bunted him to third and he scored on Anthony Maniotis’ sac fly to left field.

In the third inning Summey and Bigtree hit consecutive doubles to give Wellington a 2-0 lead.

In the sixth, the pair tried to add to the lead when Summey singled and moved to second on Bigtree’s bunt but he was stranded there.

Bigtree said he did not play much early in the season because he missed fall ball because he had a job to pay for his car.

“I was kind of pushed aside and sat because I didn’t participate in fall ball so that kind of lit a fire in me,” Bigtree said. “I worked hard in practice and games and just came out here and did what I needed to do.”

Bigtree has struggled hitting in the beginning of the last two seasons but has seen improvement so far.

“Last year, I struggled really bad at the beginning,” Bigtree said. “I didn’t start hitting well until spring break. It feels really good to have a game-winning hit, especially a double to the fence. I would’ve laid down a third one (bunt), I just want to get the win. It really doesn’t matter to me how we did it.”

Spencer Stockton pitched six strong innings against Seminole Ridge.

Wellington starter Spencer Stockton complemented Bigtree and Summey, going six innings, allowing five hits while strike out four and walking just one. The Wolverines are 2-1 in the district and 3-3 overall.

“That’s a typical outing for Spencer,” Riddle said of his senior right-hander who has committed to Jacksonville. “He gives up a few baserunners, then toughens up and take care of messes on his own
without us having to make too many defensive plays. He’s a pretty special kid, he battles, he’s a very competitive kid, he’s our guy.”

Seminole Ridge averted a shutout in the sixth inning when Carmine Cioffoletti led off with a walk on a 3-2 pitch and moved to third on ground outs by Blake Selogy and Tommy Dulin. He scored when Richie Catromano was safe at first on an errant throw on his grounder to short.

The Hawks (1-2 in the district, 5-2 overall) have scored two runs in the their last two games, both losses, including a 2-1, 11-inning defeat to Jupiter on Tuesday.

They are missing three of their top hitters. Jason Aponte (.550) has been suspended for six weeks after getting tossed late against Jupiter for using vulgar language directed at the umpire. Alex Aristy is nursing a shoulder injury and Kyle Farjad has a sore back.

“That’s our 4-5-6 hitters, so we’ve got to jumble everything around,” said Pendergast. “The past two games, it’s had a gigantic effect not having those three guys in there. When you miss a third of your offensive lineup, it’s makes it really hard.”

Wellington’s Phil Sieli, who pitched a no-hitter against Palm Beach Central on Tuesday, earned the one-inning save, needing just nine pitches to record three outs.

“We had a ton of chances to score,” Pendergast said. “It’s been a tough offensive week. Tuesday we left 12 runners on base. I don’t know what it was tonight, it’s got to be around there (they left eight runners on base). Execution was poor on the bunting. That’s one of our huge emphasises on all nine guys being able to bunt. I think we were 0-for-3 on our sacrifice bunts. IN a 2-1 ballgame, that’s makes a huge difference.”

And the Hawks could not execute a couple of hit-and-runs, especially devastating in the fifth inning. With runners on first and second by virtue of singles by Jake Paez and David Moss, Pendergast gave the signal to Tyler Murley, who laced a liner to right that was snapped up by first baseman Phil Sieli, who stepped on first to double up Moss to end the threat.

Despite a bad back, Kyle Farjad pitched smoothly and effectively for Seminole Ridge.

Sophomore Kyle Farjad took the loss, going five inning and giving up four hits. He did not record a strikeout or walk.

“He’s got a big knot in his back, so we actually were considering pulling him from the start,” Pendergast said. “He begged us to go out there
so we decided to give him one inning and after one inning he begged us for another one.

“Usually he throws really hard, he’s a strikeout pitcher, and sometimes that hurts him a little bit. I think tonight that taught him a great lesson. That’s not nearly as hard as he can normally throw, if you can hit your spots, you can be successful. Hopefully he can take that into his next start.”

Pendergast was pleased with his team’s effort despite being short-handed.

“The attitude and the effort, I’m very proud of the way these guys have played this year,” Pendergast said. “We’re here to win games, not play close games.”

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