Third Time’s The Charm As Dwyer Downs West Boca

Thomas Szapucki struck out 11 Bulls during six innings of one-hit ball.

Photo Gallery

Spring Break is over and done in Palm Beach County, and the district races are beginning to heat up. Two teams embroiled in what looks to be the tightest race of all met Tuesday night when the Dwyer Panthers traveled to West Boca to take on the Bulls.

The Bulls had lost four straight entering the contest but still had a slim, one-game lead over the Panthers, as well as Atlantic and Royal Palm Beach, in 7A-13. Although the Bulls had history on their side, the Panthers had Thomas Szapucki on their’s. Behind six innings of one-hit ball that included 11 strikeouts, Dwyer managed to beat West Boca 2-1 for the first time in three attempts since joining 7A-13 last season.

Both starters, Szapucki for Dwyer and Grant Mahoney for the Bulls, put forth superb efforts on the hill, and the teams found themselves locked in a 1-1 tie after three innings despite the fact that neither pitcher had yet to allow a hit.

Free passes accounted for each of those runs. Jack Iervolino drew the dreaded lead-off walk for Dwyer to start the second and then advance on a ground out by Dylan Jones. A passed ball put him 90 feet away for Tyler Ahearn, who sent a ball into deep center field for a sacrifice fly and 1-0 lead.

After walking the first batter he faced all night, Szapucki allowed three more walks in the bottom of the second, and the first of them, to Jordan Bernstein, proved costly. Berstein moved to second on a passed ball while Szapucki fanned Jordan Keller. Berstein them moved to third on a wild pitch during a four-pitch walk to Chris Sanders. Another passed ball, this one during a walk to Corey Bruno, finally brought him home to tie the game.

Grant Mahoney had a no-hitter going into the fifth inning.

With control becoming an issue, the Dwyer bullpen stirred to life, but Szapucki capped the inning with his third strikeout to earn a return to the mound in the third. He sandwiched another strikeout between two routine groundouts for a quick inning, then struck out two more to start a 1-2-3 fourth that was concluded when Danny Lynch made a great backhanded stab at the hot corner and threw to first to put out Keller.

Through all of Szapucki’s success, Mahoney kept pace, perplexing Dwyer’s batters and keeping them hit-less through four innings. He issued a one-out walk to Kyle Khachadourian in the fifth though, and ensuing back-to-back singles brought Khachadourian home. The first of which was by Michael Siriani, who drove a base hit down the right-field line to break up the no-hitter.

“It felt good,” Siriani said about getting the team’s first hit of the night. “I got a fastball I was able to hit right over the first baseman. It was good.”

The hit put runners at the corners for Lynch, but then Siriani stole second to put two runners in scoring position. Lynch responded by dribbling a grounder down the first-base line that only the pitcher could field. It just was enough for him to reach safely while also driving in Khachadourian for the go-ahead run.

“It was a 3-2 pitch, and I really didn’t want to K,” Lynch said. “I just wanted to put one in play, so I did and it was a tough play for the pitcher to make. I just kind of put it in the right spot I guess.”

Szapucki again started an inning with consecutive strikeouts in the bottom of the fifth, but then Busch finally foiled his no-hit bid by rapping a double into the right-center-field gap.

Dwyer’s ace, who had not allowed a walk since his troublesome second inning, finally gave up another to start the sixth, this time to Lazarus, but he quickly made amends by nabbing the Bulls’ catcher trying to steal second. He then proceeded to rack up his tenth and eleventh strikeouts to end his night after six innings.

“You’re usually pretty confident when he’s on the mound,” Lynch said about playing behind such a dominant pitcher. “Usually, he’s going to throw strikes and attack hitters and get a lot of strikeouts, too. So, whenever they put a ball in play, it’s kind of like you’re a little bit surprised actually. You have to be ready when it comes, but he doesn’t give up too many hard-hit balls, so it makes it pretty easy.”

Dwyer’s number two pitcher, Colton Rendon, came on in the seventh and earned the save for the Panthers.

Danny Lynch drove home the deciding run in the fifth inning.

The win puts both teams in a three-way tie for first place along with Royal Palm, which defeated Olympic Heights. Dwyer manager Frank Torre is pleased with the win and the team’s position, but is still concerned with the lack of offense.

“It’s good,” Torre said. “We started off rough again. We’re playing a little better, but we still have to do a much better job offensively. We have to get more than a couple of runs. Our pitching’s going to be good. We just have to find a way to string more hits together.”

Despite having dropped five in a row, West Boca Manager Nate Underwood remains optimistic and in high spirits. He referred specifically to the fact that his team committed none of the costly errors that have plagued them throughout their slide. As far as getting back to the winning ways that they enjoyed earlier in the season, he believes the answers will work themselves out.

“I’m happier walking away from this game than some of the wins we’ve had,” said Underwood, “Just keep chipping away,” Underwood said. “There’s no magic button or magic dust that I can spread around. But I think we’re coming together.”

Leave a comment using your facebook account!