Olympic Heights Hangs On For Season Sweep Of Lake Worth

Aaron Weldy dusts off after sliding into third base for a triple.

The fact that their seedings in the upcoming District 7A-13 playoff tournament were already determined didn’t prevent the Lake Worth Trojans and Olympic Heights Lions from giving it their all when they battled it out Thursday night.

It was the third time this year that the two teams met and the Lions completed the season sweep, prevailing by a score of 9-7 on their home turf, but not until the Trojans gave them a scare by scoring three times and bringing the tying run to the plate in the top of the seventh inning.

It was a close game for most of the night, with neither team having more than a two-run advantage through five innings. While some sloppy play led to just seven of the 16 total runs being earned, the Lions were also able to come up big at the plate, taking advantage of five extra-base hits in scoring their nine runs.

Four of those, two each, came from Marco Pinto and Aaron Weldy. Pinto had two triples and a single for a 3-for-4 night with a total of five RBIs and two runs scored. Weldy had a triple and an RBI double while going 2-for-4 and scoring a run.

“The first time, I was just going up there swinging, trying to do the best I could,” Weldy said. “The second time, I noticed the pitcher kept throwing curveballs, so I was aware of that and I just teed off.”

On the other side of the diamond, Chase Forrest came up big for Lake Worth. He had a perfect 2-for-2 night while also drawing a walk and stealing a base. He scored each of the three times that he reached and in a fourth plate appearance, he laid down a sacrifice bunt that would ultimately be instrumental in bringing a run across. Also pacing the Trojans was Widgy Adea, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

After Kenny Landis, the starting pitcher for Olympic Heights, hung a zero in the top of the first, there was action in each of the next four half innings. His teammates gave him some early run support in the bottom of the frame when Pinto’s first triple drove in Nick Stachnick, who had singled in the previous at-bat. Pinto scored himself when the throw from the outfield to third base sailed wide, giving the Lions a quick 2-0 lead.

The Trojans bounced right back in the top of the second. Forrest kicked it off with his first base hit and then moved into scoring position on a hit-and-run by Adea two batters later. Carl Pierre-Louis brought him home when he knocked a single down the right field line. An error and base on balls then loaded the bases for Lake Worth with two outs, when Gabriel Urena was hit by a pitch to drive in Pierre-Louis and tie things up.

With the bases still loaded, Landis was able to escape the inning by recording his second of four strikeouts.

The Lions hopped back on top in the bottom of the second when Weldy went deep to left-field for his triple and later scored on an off-target pick-off attempt to first base.

Christian Baez got the run back for the Trojans in the top of the third. He led off with a bunt single and then moved into scoring position on Forrest’s sacrifice, before eventually scoring on an error.

Chase Forrest led the Trojans on offense, scoring three runs.

In their half of the inning, the Lions finally got an edge. With runners at second and third and one away, Pinto went opposite field and slapped a single down the left field line to bring them both around and give Olympic Heights a 5-3 advantage.

In the fourth inning things finally settled down as both starting pitchers took a seat and were replaced by Kevin Hankla for the Trojans and Gerry Meyer for the Lions. Meyer set the side down in order in the top of the frame while Hankla kept Olympic Heights off the scoreboard for the first time all night by stranding two runners in the bottom half.

Forrest narrowed the gap to 5-4 in the fifth inning by sending a base hit into center-field and then scoring on Adea’s first base hit.

Hankla, who had never pitched before this season but features a nasty curveball, was hit hard to start the bottom of the fifth. Vinnie Scambone singled into right-field and Elijah Rodriguez took him deep to left for a double to put runners at second and third with no outs. Hankla responded well to the adversity. He got ahead in the count to the next batter and eventually forced a pop-out to first base. For a follow up, he induced a weak grounder to shortstop to keep the runners where they were and record the second out. To top it off, he recorded a four-pitch strikeout to strand two runners for the second inning in a row.

“I’m very proud of Kevin Hankla,” said Bobby Gilbert Jr., the second year manager of Lake Worth. “He came in and threw strikes. He didn’t even pitch last year. We told him, ‘Kevin, you’re going to have to pitch this year,’ and he was like, ‘Yes coach, whatever you need me to do’.”

The Lions solved the Hankla riddle in the sixth inning though. They brought eight batters to the plate and scored four runs. Key to the big inning was Pinto’s second triple, a long fly ball over the left-fielder’s head that brought two across.

“I just saw really good pitches today,” said Pinto afterwards. “I felt good warming up and it was one of the better hitting games I’ve had all year.”

Also coming up big in the inning were Rodriguez, who had an RBI single, and Weldy, who hit his aforementioned RBI double to almost the same spot as Pinto’s triple. The inning opened up Olympic Height’s lead to 9-4 and seemed to have clinched the victory.

But the Trojans never gave up.

“We have it,” Gilbert Jr. said about his team’s ability. “These kids are fighters. They just have to believe in themselves.”

Anybody who could hear inside their dugout as they began their last at-bats could tell that they did.

Marco Pinto had himself a day with two triples and five RBIs for the Lions.

Tyler Vander Sande was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Baez followed with a single that moved him to third. A passed ball then moved Baez to third and scored Vander Sande. A throwing error allowed Baez to cross home, then Forrest drew a walk and stole second before scoring the third run of the inning on another passed ball. With just one out and Adea at second, Meyer clamped down and recorded back-to-back outs to clinch the victory.

At 2-19 with a 2-11 mark in district 7A-13 play, the Trojans will have the 7th seed in the district tournament. Although the season has been rocky at times, Gilbert Jr. is confident that his team is on the verge.

“What I’m happy with is that we’re showing progress,” he said about his team that doesn’t have a single senior on its roster. “I see a lot of growth and development here with this program and I know a lot of other people are starting to see it as well. I’m very proud of these guys. These guys are playing ball for the first time and they’re showing improvement.”

Olympic Heights improved to 7-16 with a 5-8 record within district 7A-13 and will be playing the Atlantic Eagles in the first round of the playoffs. Their manager, Sam Howell, can be tough on his team but only because he believes in what they can do if they stay focused.

“We busted it out, but we always have that one inning,” Howell said in regard to his teams pension to have one bad defensive inning per game, as they did in the seventh. “We did, and they got back in the game.”

While optimistic, Weldy also realizes that this one could have gotten away.

“All and all, we came through this game,” Weld said. “We really did. It was one of the better games we’ve had so far. We fought back and forth but came out on top this time.”

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