Palm Beach Central’s Late Charge Catches Palm Beach Gardens

The Broncos’ Austin Burke, receives the attention his two-run, walk-off triple richly deserved.

The Palm Beach Central Broncos’ constrained offense broke loose in the sixth inning and, in the bottom of the seventh stampeded to a 4-3, come-from-behind win over the Palm Beach Gardens Gators Friday afternoon in Wellington. The two teams vied for position in 9A-9 playoff seeding and played a tightly-contested game befitting the playoff baseball rapidly approaching.

The Broncos’ game-ending rally started with a base on balls to Broncos senior center fielder Anthony Gallicchio. Chris Armas followed with a bunt for a base hit. Austin Burke then drove the ball to the right-center wall for the winning runs.

As is typical with “walk-off” victories, a bench-clearing celebration on the field, complete with the splash from water bottles, ensued.

Gallicchio finished 3-for-3 and scored the tying run. He credited his team’s never-say-die determination.

“Exciting game. We just bounced back. Everyone stuck with it,” said Gallicchio. “We all kept fighting; no one gave up. You can say that about every player.”

Broncos’ manager Scott Benedict spoke of his team’s big win, and the infectious nature of keeping the bench energy high even when trailing late in a game.

“It was looking kind of bleak when that one ball went to the backstop to put us down three, but our guys stayed with it,” Benedict said. “We’ve talked about being more consistent in projecting enthusiasm and keeping everyone in the game. It makes it more fun and, usually, the results are a lot better as well.”

The Gators’ Sendle Jean opened the game with a double inside the right field line. One out later, Sam Prince hit a Baltimore chop to third base, beating the delayed throw to first. Udie Summerall sent a long fly ball into the left field gap, splitting the outfielders and driving in the first two runs of the game.

Gators’ shortstop Sendle Jean finished with a single, a double and two runs scored.

Both teams were in late season form, holding runners close with numerous pickoff attempts at both first and second base. With one out in the Broncos’ third, Gallicchio hammered a first-pitch fastball into right field for a single. After he stole second base, Armas walked. With Brendan Power at the plate, the action at second base picked up notably. Gators’ starter Kody Gardere picked the runner off second. Armas then stole second. Power drew a gasp from the crowd with a line shot that second baseman Tucker Weindorf snagged at the fullest extension of his leap.

The Gators extended their lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning. Jean singled to right. Weindorf moved him to second with a sacrifice bunt. Prince hit a swinging bunt only ten feet in front of the plate, where Broncos’ starter Havier Sans pounced on it and made an exceptional play to throw Prince out, with Jean advancing to third. Jean scored on a wild pitch for the Gators’ final run.

Foreshadowing things to come, the Broncos almost broke through in the fifth inning. Jacob Shue reached on an infield error and Brandon Whelan was hit by a pitch. With two strikes, Gallicchio extended his bat with one arm to single to the opposite field and load the bases. The following batter answered the Gators’ wishes by hitting a one-hopper into a 1-2-3 double play. Power drove a ball over the center fielder’s head, but Prince tracked it down to end the inning.

With one out in the Broncos’ sixth, Hunter Gunn singled up the middle and moved to second on a wild pitch. Brooks Aristy singled to left, advancing Gunn to third. With two out and two strikes, Jacob Shue came through with a smash to the right field gap, cutting the Gators’ lead to one.

Shue’s clutch double hit to the opposite gap, had the pace of a drive pulled rather than sliced. Shue was happy with his late, but timely contribution.

Gators’ starter, Kody Gardere went six innings, throwing shut-out ball through five.

“It felt nice. It hit the outfield grass, skipped and kept on going,” said the 6’5″, 240 pound senior. “I was just doing what our coaches tell us: get our foot down early with the leg back in and I drove it.”

The Gators’ looked to get those runs back in the top of the seventh. Joe Alessio dropped in a base hit just beyond third base. One out later, Weindorf drilled a two-hopper to second where the ball bounced off Whelan’s chest, seemingly negating the chance for a double play. Whelan stepped forward to retrieve the ball, tagged Alessio as he was running by and threw to first in time to complete the twin-killing.

The Gators could have clinched the first seed in the upcoming district playoffs. The three-time defending district champion Gators now find themselves in a three-way tie with the Broncos and the Jupiter Warriors. Those playoffs are slated for April 18-22 at Palm Beach Gardens.

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