Park Vista Wins 12-8 Slugfest Against Palm Beach Gardens

Colin Smith threw four innings of relief, allowing one run on one hit to earn the win.

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Park Vista and Palm Beach Gardens boasted similar resumes throughout the 2014 season. Both squads won more than 20 games with at least 10 of those wins coming at home. They also both consisted of veteran players with a mixture of young talent that played key roles.

At times during the season, both teams also showed dominant pitching on the mound and the ability to get clutch hits when needed. As a result, the teams built impressive winning streaks at different points of the season. Park Vista started the season on a 15-game run and early on looked unbeatable, while Palm Beach Gardens ended its regular season on an eight-game winning streak that has been extended to 11 with its playoff run.

So when the two teams met up in the regional semifinals Tuesday night, it was clear it was going to be like looking in the mirror. What neither team expected was that an absolute slugfest would break out in the way of a 12-8 victory for Park Vista and a berth in the regional championship game.

Park Vista will move on to host Douglas on Friday for the right to compete in the state tournament.

“What a game,” Park Vista manager Larry Greenstein said. “Two really good teams going at it, and I’ve seen them play, they’ve seen us play. They are an extremely talented team, and I know it was going to be tough and I knew we were going to have to score runs. I didn’t know we would need that many though.”

The teams combined for 20 runs on 26 hits on a hot and muggy night in Palm Beach Gardens that saw the ball getting hit in all directions. With the exception of the third and fourth innings, at least one of the teams scored at least one run in each inning.

Nick Horvath went 2-for-4 and hit his first home run of the season.

The runs got started early as the Cobras put up a run in the first on a Tyler Barre RBI single. The Gators immediately answered back in the bottom half when Gators leadoff man Nick Horvath connected on a ball to deep left for his first home run of the season. Catcher JJ Schwarz added an RBI single late in the first inning, and Palm Beach Gardens came out of the first inning with the lead. That was the only time the Gators led in the game, as the second inning came along and changed the game completely.

Park Vista came to bat in the second inning down a run and looking to get it back. What the Cobras ended up doing was bring 12 batters to the plate and put up six runs with the help of two costly errors by the Gators. The inning was highlighted by the fact that Park Vista batted around and all but one of the batters reached base safely at least once. In addition, it completely set the tone for the remainder of the game, as Park Vista regained the lead and never looked back.

Although the big inning in the second got the lead back for the Cobras, it was their pitching that preserved their lead as the game got into the later innings.

After a short start by Bruce Bechtel that saw him go just two-thirds of an inning, Greenstein elected to bring in his designated hitter Colin Smith to pitch. Smith went on to throw 103 pitches in four innings of work and kept the Palm Beach Gardens hitters from getting their team back in the contest. In his four innings of relief, Smith allowed only one run on one hit.

“Colin Smith did a great job there for four innings,” Greenstein said. “He kept us in the ballgame and kept them off balance. They had a hard time handling him, and he set the tone for us the rest of the game.”

Dakota Julyila went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

Despite not much going right for the Gators on the night, they did not show any signs of defeat. Continuing to battle until the final out, Palm Beach Gardens put up six runs in the final three innings and even cut the defect down to three at one point. In the end though, the six-run second inning by Park Vista was just too much to overcome.

“The second inning killed us, giving up six runs and getting that far down,” Palm Beach Gardens Manager Joe Russo said. “After the first inning we bounced back and grabbed the lead and I felt good about us offensively. I am proud of my guys for making a game out of it late and putting some pressure on them to close it out.”

For Palm Beach Gardens, although the season ends without an appearance at the state tournament, again it does end with a district title for the second straight year. Russo knows there are many thing for his players to hold their heads high about this season.

“It’s a disappointment any time we can’t advance to the state championship,” Russo said. “We expect to win and move on in the playoffs. We fought through a lot of adversity early in the season with injuries. I’m really proud of all the guys, not just the seniors. At one point, we had three sophomores on the infield at the end of the game. It’s nice to take the district championship away. It’s something to put in your pocket, but it certainly wasn’t the goal.”

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