Jupiter Notches Second District Win Against Wellington

Reese Albert was a spark plug for the Warriors, batting 3-for-4 and driving in the go-ahead runs.

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The Jupiter Warriors have struggled with the bats all season long, but a three-run fifth sparked a 5-2 victory when they traveled to Wellington on Friday night for an early season 8A-9 showdown.

“We’re trying to find what type of offense we are, what we can do,” said Warriors Manager Andy Mook. “We’re kind of a different team, because a lot of times you have a small-ball team or that big-hit, power kind of team. We’re a combination. So we’re trying to piece out what we can do, just trying to take advantage of any time to try and get runs.”

With the score tied at one, Mook’s team did a little bit of both in the decisive fifth inning. Tyler Ward kicked off the frame with a single that almost wasn’t, as Wolverine second baseman Kirkland Festa just missed making a leaping grab of the high drive into right field. Ramon Machado followed up with his second successful sacrifice bunt of the night and Robert Valdez beat out an infield single that also moved Ward to third, giving Jupiter runners on the corners.

Next up was the Warriors’ Reese Albert, who needed simply to make contact to do to give his team a lead. Albert fell behind 0-2, then he fouled off two more pitches. Finally, on his fifth look, he got a hold of one, hooking a ball just fair of the right-field line for a two-run double. Albert who went 3-for-4 and also scored a run.

“He was throwing good; his off-speed was working well for him,” Albert said of the opposing pitcher, Phil Sieli. “I had a feeling he was going to throw the breaker so I just poked it over there down that line and got a double out of it. So it worked out well.”

Sieli was lights out for most of the first four innings, striking out nine while not issuing any free passes. But in the fifth the Warriors (6-4) began to catch up to him. Sieli walked two batters, although one was intentional, to load the bases. He then hit Zach Johns with a pitch for the second time of the night, driving in a run and expanding Jupiter’s lead to 4-1.

Phil Sieli was lights-out up until the fifth inning, striking out nine Warriors.

Wellington put themselves in good position to get back some of those runs in their half of the fifth. Warriors ace Mack Lemieux recorded his seventh and final strikeout of the night to start the inning, but then tossed back-to-back walks to Richie Ellis and Jacob Koos. With Matthew Morales at the plate, Ellis strayed a little too far from the second base bag and, after receiving a pitch, Jupiter catcher Robert Valdez fired to second to try and pick him off. Stuck in no man’s land, Ellis took off for third, but was unable to slide in under the tag.

Lightning struck twice against the Wolverines. A few pitches later, Lemieux tried to catch Koos leaning at first. Rather than retreat, Koos broke for second, only to get caught in a rundown.

“It definitely helps when you’re in a pickle like that,” Lemieux said about the fortunate turn of events. The baseball gods were with me tonight, I guess. It worked out for the better for us.”

On a night when he did not have his best stuff in walking five batters when he had only given up eight so far in the season, the usually reliable Lemieux was the beneficiary of some great defense behind him. In the first inning, his third baseman Johns snared a hard line drive that had base hit written all over it, then fired across the diamond to double off Morales at first. In the sixth, Cody Wilson was able to come in on a sinking line drive to shallow center field, making a catch and then throwing to second to double off a runner.

“We played a great game defensively,” said Mook. “We kept them from getting any kind of big inning. Even that first inning, they had two guys on. I mean we got the line drive, and we got a double play. We were able to make some very good plays to get out of situations that we put ourselves into.”

Jupiter jumped out to an early lead in the second when Johns was hit by a pitch for the first time. He advanced to third on a base hit by Ward and another bunt by Machado, then scored on a passed ball. Wellington answered back in the third when Francis Cerasuolo drew a lead-off walk, moved to third on a base hit by Koos and scored on a Morales single.

From there, things settled down until the eventful fifth, although Wellington’s Festa did make a highlight reel catch in the third. Wilson rapped a hard line drive to Festa’s right and the second baseman made a leaping, back-handed grab to rob him of a base hit.

The Warriors put the icing on the cake in the sixth. Valdez was knocked in by an Anthony Servideo single into left field to close out the scoring.

Mack Lemieux may not have been at his best but still struck out seven and only surrendered one run.

“We had a few chances throughout the game to kind of put ourselves ahead,” said Wellington Manager Scott Riddle. “Frankly, they got it done and we didn’t. We didn’t get the hit when we needed it; they got the hit when they needed it.”

Like last season, the District 8A-9 race is shaping up to be a tight one. Now at 7-4, the Wolverines own the second best overall record but drop to 1-3 against district opponents. Meanwhile, the win makes Jupiter a perfect 2-0 within the district and 6-4 overall.

“We all knew it was a big game coming into it,” said Johns. “Everybody was up, battled at the plate, battled on defense, Mack threw a great game on the mound. It was a good team win.”

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