Gardens Lights Up Jupiter to Win 8A-9 Championship

Pavin Smith had perfect 4-for-4 night, racking up six RBIs with two three-run homers.

8A-9 Championship Gallery

On Friday night, when the Jupiter Warriors and Palm Beach Gardens Gators squared off for the district 8A-9 title at Jupiter High School, something had to give.

The last time the two met, Jupiter was reeling after losing five straight mid-season games to drop to 6-11. They got back on track in that game, winning by a score of 4-1.

Since then, neither team had lost a game. The Warriors stormed back with eight straight wins to earn the top seed in the playoffs, then beat Seminole Ridge 12-1 in the semifinals on Wednesday night to run the streak to nine. Meanwhile, the Gators rattled off six in a row, including a 5-2 win over Palm Beach Central in the semifinals.

On Friday, it was a given that somebody’s streak had to end. What nobody could have expected was how it would be accomplished.

The Gators put on an impressive display of offensive firepower, racking up 12 hits, including two three-run home runs by Pavin Smith, to stun the Warriors with a 12-0 shellacking.

Like last season, the win avenged a regular season sweep at the hands of their rivals and earned them the district crown.

“We just came out swinging the bats hot,” said Smith. “We knew we had a chance to beat them. We lost a couple of times to them but it was very close. We just came out and played our game.”

Smith’s game was nothing short of perfect on this night. He went 4-for-4 at the plate while also taking a base on balls in a fifth plate appearance. Aside from the two home runs and the six RBIs that came with them, he also scored three runs. He played a part in each of the Gators run-scoring innings.

Batting from the three-spot in the first inning, Smith doubled into right field, sending Sendle Jean, who had singled in the previous at-bat, to third. That set the table for clean-up man J.J. Schwarz, who capitalized by rocking a 1-1 pitch over the center fielder’s head to the deepest corner of the ballpark for a two-run triple. He then scored on a sacrifice fly by Caleb Perez and Gardens led 3-0.

The Jean-Smith-Schwarz trio struck again in the second, this time with two outs. Jean and Smith both drew walks before Schwarz lined into right field for his second hit of the night, bringing Jean around to make it 4-0. Schwarz stole second and then an ill-fated attempt to catch him leaning allowed Smith to score.

Overshadowed by Smith’s superb showing was the fact that Jean and Schwarz also had pretty good nights. Jean went 2-for-3, drew a walk, scored four runs and batted in another. Schwarz went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a walk. Nick Horvath also contributed with two hits, two runs scored and a base on balls.

J.J. Schwarz got the Gators off and running with a two-run triple in the first inning.

Mack Lemieux had been able to earn the win the last time the two teams faced off, but he did not have his best stuff on Friday night. Jupiter manager Andy Mook pulled him after the second inning and the Warrior’s bullpen was able to temporarily silence the Gator’s bats.

Todd Mercado hung a zero in both the third and fourth innings, giving up just one hit and stranding three base runners.

Meanwhile, Tanner Hurley was solid if not spectacular, in his start for Palm Beach Gardens. He allowed three base hits and struck out three while pitching all seven innings. Jupiter was able to put a runner on base against him in each of the first four innings, but twice it was due to an error.

In the fifth, with the game still within reach at 5-0, the Warriors had two batters reach in the same inning for the first time all night. First, Cody Wilson hit an infield single to second base. Then, Chase Bishop was hit by a pitch, giving Kevin Fry Jupiter’s first RBI opportunity. Hurley induced a pop-foul from him to keep the shutout intact.

“I just came into the game knowing I had to hit my spots,” said Hurley. “Jupiter’s a good hitting team, they have a lot of powerful hitters. I had to hit my spots, throw my good 0-2 pitches for strikes and just do what I normally do, just try and get ground balls.”

Zac Spankle spelled Mercado in the fifth and pitched Jupiter’s first and only 1-2-3 inning of the night, striking out two in the process. He was not so lucky in the sixth, when he faced the top of Gardens’ batting order.

Horvath led off with a bunt single. Jean followed with an attempted sacrifice bunt but a bobbled ball allowed him to reach safely. Smith then clobbered his first home run, going opposite field over the right field fence on an 0-2 pitch to expand the lead to 8-0.

Devin Wilson came on in relief of Sprankle in the seventh and the Gators piled it on. With two out, Jean whacked an RBI double into right field that scored Sam Prince and pushed Horvath to third, once again presenting Smith with a golden opportunity. This time, he waited until the count was full before teeing off, sending a towering fly ball over the left field fence to close out the scoring.

“It feels great,” Smith said about the long balls. “Both of them were with two strikes, I think. So, just trying to put it in play and just happened to get a pitch.”

While not complaining, not even Joe Russo, long-time manager for the Gators, could have predicted such a dominant victory.

“It’s a complete surprise,” Russo said about the lopsided score. “But, Tanner Hurley throwing a shutout in a district championship game, that kind of kept the momentum in our favor and we were able to swing the bat.”

Sendle Jean came around to score all four times that he reached base.

Mook, who once played for Russo, also gives credit to Hurley.

“He had good command of all his pitches,” Mook said. “He had our guys swinging at pitcher’s pitches instead of us being a little more patient and getting more of a quality hitter’s pitch. So, credit to Gardens, man. They came in and kicked our butt.”

In each of the past two seasons, one of these two teams has made it to the state semifinals. Ironically, in both instances it has been the team that lost the district championship. In 2012, Gardens advanced after losing this game to Dwyer. Last year, it was Jupiter who was able to rebound and win the regional title. With both teams guaranteed a place in the regional tournament, Mook is happy that his team broke the streak now instead of next week when a loss would send them home for good.

“Now our focus has to switch over,” Mook said. “The good news is, we get another game.”

That game will be played next Tuesday against district 8A-10 champion Park Vista.

Russo speculates that the assurance of a spot in regionals may have factored in to his team’s outstanding performance, allowing them to play relaxed and loose. Come next week, they will have no such luxury.

“Certainly, our goal is to get to Fort Myers and win it,” said Russo. “You just hope the ball keeps bouncing in our favor and we somehow figure out a way to win three games.”

The first of those three will be next week against 8A-10 runner-up Spanish River.

Leave a comment using your facebook account!