Suncoast Opens Season With Win Over Dwyer

Tyler Lavery went the distance in his varsity debut.

The biggest advantage Suncoast had before the season was their crop of returning players. They had 13 players coming back from last year’s team, with 12 of them being seniors. Manager Brooks Cross knew that at least on paper he had a veteran, experienced squad.

The Chargers had their first opportunity to hit the field on Tuesday night against a talented Dwyer squad, and Suncoast looked more than just good on paper. Behind the veteran squad that Cross referred to before the season, Suncoast went out and defeated Dwyer 3-1 in their season and home opener.

The win came in large part thanks to the play of one of the few newcomers to this year’s Chargers team, Tyler Lavery. The sophomore made his varsity debut and went the distance, going seven innings while striking out three and allowing five hits.

“I’m not going to lie, I feel pretty good,” Lavery said. “It’s a great team on the other side. They have some great players, but really it just feels great to be back out on the field.”

Lavery didn’t take all the credit for the night, continuing to reference the great play of his defense and his team as a whole. It all goes back to something Cross mentioned before the season started when he said it was going to be the team as a whole who needed to step up, and not just one or two players.

“I think what showed to me was the poise of having the seniors with the leadership and everything,” Cross said. “Not getting to caught up in it and keeping their poise.

Daniel Hein went 2-for-3 with an RBI

The Chargers benefited from two balk calls made by the umpires on Dwyer, that resulted in two of the three Suncoast runs. The first came in the first inning with a runner on third, allowing Suncoast shortstop Nate Brodsky to come home. Another balk was called in the third, allowing Jordi Sallent to advance to third, and he would eventually come home on a wild pitch.

“The second balk was a balk,” Dwyer manager Frank Torre said. “The umpire said for the first one that his right foot wasn’t on the rubber, which they both have to be. Even though he did the same thing the whole game, the ump called it with a guy on third, which was interesting.”

It was more than just two balk calls though. Torre said plain and simple his team has to play better, especially with a rivalry game against Palm Beach Gardens coming up Tuesday.

“Obviously it’s pretty clear that we haven’t done a good enough of a job at this point of getting them ready,” Torre said. “We can have a real rough night Thursday if we don’t improve and we don’t play a better game. Basically, offensively the guys need a lot of work and we knew we were going to struggle a little bit there. Hopefully this was a little wake up call for them for how much harder they need to work to succeed.”

For Suncoast, it will take this win and try to keep the momentum going as the Chargers jump right into their district schedule when they face Palm Bay in Melbourne on Friday.

“We are going to do the same thing we’ve been doing. It seems to be working,” Cross said. “We will just regroup and focus on Friday and try and get a district win.”

Leave a comment using your facebook account!