Big First Inning Propels Royal Palm Past Lauderdale

Triston McKenzie struck out nine in four innings Thursday.

Royal Palm Beach jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back, beating Fort Lauderdale 10-0 in five innings Thursday.

Sean Houck and Brandon Hernandez got the scoring starting in the bottom of the first, coming home on an error. Justin Wahid scored on Jesus Pina’s groudout. Sean Malynn and Jacklin Jacklin scored before the inning was completed.

“Early on we got some bunts down that helped out, but we’ve been working on letting the ball travel and choking up to have better bat control,” Royal Palm Beach Manager Kason Gabbard said. “They all had good at bats in situations that we needed to move runners or drive them in.

Royal Palm Beach, which advances to a regional semifinal Tuesday against Monarch, tacked on a run in the second as Troy Hamilton singled to score.

The Wildcats capped the scoring with a three-run third. Malynn stole home to make it 8-0 before Houk singled in Zach Odell and Luke Hollander.

Reese Blankenship and Daniel Silva had the only hits for Fort Lauderdale, which ends its season 8-17.

The Wildcats got a strong performance from Triston McKenzie, who struck out nine, allowed two hits and walked one in his four innings on the mound.

“He was his normal self, getting ahead and then mixing it up,” Gabbard said. “When he locates his fastball, he’s pretty hard to hit. I’m looking forward to his next start Tuesday. We’ll have Triston on the hill, so if we do what we’re supposed to at the plate, then it should be a good game.”

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