Park Vista Comes Back To Knock Off Boca

Jordan Poore hit a walk off single in the bottom of the eighth to give Park Vista the win.

When Park Vista and Boca Raton got together in a District 8A-10 matchup Tuesday night, you knew it was going to be a hard-fought game between two tough district foes. This battle was so tight it took extra innings to decide, as Park Vista delivered the kill shot courtesy of center fielder Jordan Poore’s walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the eighth for a 3-2 victory.

“That last at bat was so intense,” Poore said. “I knew I had to get it done and battle and wait for one that I could hit and put in play. When I hit it it was just total excitement; it was crazy. Getting mobbed by my teammates was the greatest feeling. This team is awesome. I love being on this team.”

The Bobcats jumped out to an early lead after getting two runs on Park Vista ace Austin Smith early on in the first. In fact, Boca Raton was able to take advantage of the slow start by Smith by getting the first four batters on base, including RBIs by Michael Amditis and Michael Spooner. Park Vista got a run back in the bottom half of the first and that’s when both pitchers locked down and tore through the opposing team’s lineups.

In innings two through four both Smith and Bobcats starter Mitchell Senger did not allow a hit. Smith retired his next nine batters in order, while Senger saw more than three batters in an inning just once.

The story of the game at that point certainly turned to pitching. Even when Smith got into some trouble in the fifth and loaded up the bases with two outs, Michael Razzo came in to get out of the jam. Not only did Razzo get the Cobras out of the jam, he stayed in and pitched three-and-a-third innings that included him retiring his first eight batters in order to keep Park Vista alive.

“I felt great tonight,” Razzo said. “I felt great with my stuff and my change up was working and my fastball was working. My pitches were all working and my momentum was working towards the plate.”

Coming up to the plate one final time in the seventh inning and down a run, the Cobras knew it was now or never to finally get the bats going.

Austin Smith led the inning off with a single. After a sacrifice bunt by Nyle Newland to advance courtesy runner Dylan Ganci over to second, catcher Tyler Higgins hit a single to bring Ganci home and tie the game up.

Mitchell Senger went seven strong innings in a no-decision.

The game certainly lived up to the hype and then some. The Cobras had trailed for the entire game but then stormed back to win in extra innings.

“That was a crazy game,” Park Vista Manager Larry Greenstein said. “We got off to a slow start. Austin did a great job though after that first inning. He retired 11 guys in a row at one point. I made a tough decision to pull him but we had faith in Razzo and he did a great job to keep us in the game.”

For Greenstein, it was so much more than just his team coming back to win another game late. It was the way they rallied around each other and picked each other up that not only made this win special but has made it a special group for him to coach.

“We have an Austin Smith but we also have a lot of other great guys and the guys all rally behind each other,” Greenstein said. “They all have grown up together right here in this Little League park, so you can feel it. You can feel them all pulling for each other. You don’t see a group like this every year. This is a special group that have been playing together for a long time. You can’t create that. You can create team chemistry, but the bond that they have. They are always hanging out together and you just can’t create that.”

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