Royal Palm Uses Big Ninth Inning To Get Past Dwyer

Triston McKenzie struck out 14 in eight innings while also going 2-for-4 at the plate.

When both Royal Palm and Dwyer won on Monday night, they knew they would be facing each other in Wednesday’s 7A-13 semifinal matchup. Neither pitched their ace Monday night meaning, both Thomas Szapucki and Triston McKenzie were on a collision course to face each other on Wednesday with a spot in regionals on the line.

Not only have the two senior pitchers been widely considered the best at their position in the district, many consider the two of them, along with Park Vista’s Austin Smith, as the best pitchers in the region.

It was expected that Wednesday night would be a pitcher’s duel, and the game certainly lived up to the hype. Both McKenzie and Szapucki went deep into the extra-inning contest, each recording double-digit strikeouts while allowing only one earned run. Szapucki went five and two-thirds, allowing just two hits and striking out 12, while McKenzie pitched eight of the nine innings, also allowing just two hits and striking out 14.

“Two top guys didn’t disappoint tonight,” Dwyer Manager Frank Torre said. “Triston was great, and Thomas was great. He threw a little too many pitches, but man, he battled for us. He gave us everything tonight like he has all year. I’m super proud of him.”

Both pitchers had it going early on in the game, with both consistently topping 90 on the gun, and it seemed as if the first team to score a run was going to win the game.

That distinction went to Dwyer, who scored first in the third inning. After a quick out, Panthers right fielder Tyler Ahearn drew a walk, becoming Dwyer’s first baserunner of the night. Danny Lynch followed Ahearn, recording a single for the first Dwyer hit of the night. A passed ball gave the Panthers runners on second and third and just one out. Connor Webb brought in Ahearn on a single, but that was the only run Dwyer got in the inning, and ultimately the game.

That third inning was the only time that McKenzie had any real trouble on the night. McKenzie faced more than three batters only twice on the night, that third inning and again in the seventh when he saw four batters come to the plate.

“I felt really good out there tonight,” McKenzie said. “Pretty much I tried to compete and tried to keep my team in the game, and I felt really good so when coach asked if I was good to go back out there in the eighth. I felt strong enough to go back out there and give my team another inning.”

McKenzie’s performance on the mound kept Royal Palm in the game the entire time. Allowing only one run to Dwyer, the Wildcats were never out of it, and they proved that in the sixth when they finally got to Szapucki a little bit.

Thomas Szapucki struck out 12 in five and two-thirds innings.

Like McKenzie, Szapucki had been crushing to that point as well. Topping off at 94 on the radar, he had yet to face more than four batters in the inning before the sixth.

A bunt single by Zach Odell started the inning for the Wildcats. Sean Hock came up and drew a walk to put runners on first and second. Szapucki seemed to settle in at that point, striking out the next two batters. A few stolen bases moved the runners to second and third, with McKenzie of all people coming to the plate. He lined a ball right up the middle that Szapucki couldn’t quite keep his glove on to tie up the game.

“As a hitter I try to just think ‘I’m not going to get to hit much so I might as well do the best I can’,” McKenzie said “If it comes to the point where my team needs a run, I want to be that guy. I want to come through and I did that tonight.”

It took all the way to the ninth inning before either team could finally break through, with Royal Palm putting up four runs in the top half of the ninth to win the game 5-1.

“It was a nail-bitter for a while,” Wildcats Manager Kason Gabbard said. “Obviously a pitching duel coming right out of the gate. In my opinion, [these are] two of the top pitchers in our entire county. It just kind of worked out in our favor in the ninth inning. Early on we didn’t have good pitch selection swinging the bats, but we figured it out and put some stuff together and got it done.”

Royal Palm not only advances to Thursday night’s district title game where they will be the host school, they also advance to regionals. For Gabbard, who is a first-year manager, it says a lot about where his program is.

“It’s a big deal,” Gabbard said. “It’s my first year as a head coach, and early on, I thought we had a team that would get us to where we are now. During the middle of the season, we were still trying to figure stuff out, but we fought the last three games and hopefully we can keep doing that.”

Royal Palm will play host to Atlantic, who upset the top seeded Forrest Hill Falcons earlier in the day 4-3 in a game that also went nine innings. James Butera hit the game-winning RBI single in the top of the ninth to give the Eagles the win and a berth in the district title game as well as a spot in regionals.

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