Park Vista Opens HSBN First Pitch Frenzy With Win

One batter, two outs and soon thereafter, a win for Park Vista reliever Dylan Wetula in his first varsity appearance at Harry J. Grivvin Field, a 5 -4 come from behind victory over Royal Palm Beach in the opening round of the HSBN First Pitch Frenzy Monday night.

Wetula, entering a tie game in the top of the seventh with one out and two Wildcats in scoring position, snared a line drive back through the box and doubled the runner off third to end the threat.

In the home half of the inning, a walk to Joe Kelly, a single by James Marinan, a sacrifice bunt by Dylan Ganci and an intentional walk to Andrew Lee set the stage for pinch-runner Dylan Santalo scoring the winning run on a Hogan Townsend walk.

Both teams, each regional Champions in 2015, made their regular season debut, facing off in strong winds and temperatures in the low 60’s.

The wind, barely noticeable at field level, was howling just above. Blowing out to left, it played havoc with pop flies, impacting the game in the top of the first inning. RPB’s Sheldon Emilcare reached on a dropped infield pop-up. Sean Houck got under a pitch, sending it seemingly routinely to left, but it sailed just beyond the left fielder’s reach, moving both Wildcats into scoring position. A foul pop-up dropped untouched after reversing course due to the wind. Zack Retzler sliced an RBI single to the opposite field and Nicholas Toney beat out a swinging bunt to give RPB a 2-0 lead.

The Cobras cut the lead in half in the bottom of the first. With two out, Joe Kelly doubled to the left-center gap and James Marinan drove him home, lacing a double just inside the left field line.

With two out in the Wildcats’ third, Retzler drew a walk. First pitch swinging, Toney drove a fastball deep over the left field wall putting the Wildcats ahead, 4-1. After a single by Luke Hollander, Park Vista starter, Ryan Wallace then closed out three gritty innings by inducing a fly ball to center.

Toney was in the moment after his blast.

“When I was running the bases, it was kind of hard to believe it was real since I’ve been struggling this pre-season. To finally come through with a hit like that…it felt like a dream come true!”

The Cobras seemed ready to strike back in the bottom half of the frame after Drew Kendall led off with a single to left. That was followed by a single by Kelly. Marinan then drilled a shot into left-center, caught by Emilcare on a dead run towards the warning track. It turned into a double play when the runner on second was deemed to have left early while tagging to advance. Wildcats’ starter, Logan Pittman, when asked if the wind and cooler temperatures affected his pitching replied to the contrary.

“Pitching in weather like this is pretty much money. Honestly, just jam ’em, just try to jam ’em as much as possible.”

Cobra reliever, Hunter Brennan, like Wallace and Wetula, also making his varsity debut, announced his 2016 presence with authority by striking out the side in the fourth. The Cobras then turned one out walks to Townsend and Patrick Skibiski and a three-base infield throwing error into two runs and a one run game.

Park Vista tied the game in the sixth when Andrew Lee singled to right-center, Townsend laid down a sacrifice bunt and Zack Padgett drilled an RBI double down the left field line.

Cobra Manager, Larry Greenstein, smiling, was happy with the pitching effort.

“Our pitchers, Ryan Wallace, and Hunter Brennan, really hung in there and then Dylan Wetula comes into a tough situation, faces one batter and gets the win! But that’s baseball.”

Wetula, described his insertion into the seventh inning pressure cooker and the double play.

“First time, I was a little nervous right there because of the situation I inherited. I threw him an outside fastball and it was just a quick reaction and a lot of adrenaline.”

The Cobras lost 13 players to graduation this year but Greenstein relishes the challenge.

“It’s alright. We’ve got good kids here. They went 25-0 in their JV season last year and won the county championship. So, we’re excited about it.”

After the game, Cobra catcher, Joe Kelly, showed off some equipment with which some fans may not be familiar. Joe sports an armband with a clear plastic sleeve under which he rotates different “pitch calling” cards. On each card are 54 different numbers correlating to every possible pitch or play Greenstein might desire. From fastball in, curveball outside, to pick-off plays, Kelly hears his manager’s call, looks at the chart and he’s always on point. Amazingly, to keep the opposition guessing, Kelly has four different cards (totaling 216 “pitch calls”) which he changes at his manager’s behest.

“Every inning, he’ll call out a color and I’ll change the card. Then he’ll call out a number, I check the chart and know just what he wants. It looks complicated but it’s really easy.”

Park Vista now moves on to face Gulliver Prep in the semifianls of the HSBN First Pitch Frenzy on Tuesday evening.

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