7A-11 Playoff Preview: Two County Top-10s Expected To Clash

Jupiter and Wellington have been mainstays in HSBN’s Palm Beach County Power Rankings all season long, and the two appear poised to clash for the 7A-11 district championship in 2023.

Palm Beach Central, Palm Beach Gardens and Royal Palm Beach are all chasing those two at the top of the division, but only the Broncos feature a record above .500. Gardens and Royal Palm also have to play a quarterfinal game, which puts the winner at a disadvantage in terms of pitching depth moving forward.

Let’s take a look at each team’s prospects.

7A-11 District Playoff Schedule

Location: Higher seed hosts

Quarterfinals – Monday (5/1)

No. 4 Palm Beach Gardens vs. No. 5 Royal Palm Beach @ 6:30 p.m.

Semifinals – Tuesday (5/2)

No. 1 Jupiter vs. Winner (Quarterfinals) @ 6:30 p.m.

No. 2 Wellington vs. No. 3 Palm Beach Central @ 6:30 p.m.

Finals – Thursday (5/4)

Winner (Semifinal 1) vs. Winner (Semifinal 2) @ 6:30 p.m.

Jupiter – Team Page

The Warriors have been a top-5 team in the county all season long and are one of the most well-rounded clubs in the area.

The majority of the starting lineup is batting above .300, and the two-headed monster of Jaxon Inouye (1.56 ERA) and Joe Thomas (1.14 ERA) gives Jupiter all the pieces necessary to make a deep playoff run.

An incredibly strong regular-season schedule has this team prepared for the postseason. The Warriors are the favorites to come out on top of 7A-11, but it won’t be an easy tournament to get through by any means.

Palm Beach Central – Team Page

The Broncos have played good baseball all year long, but it’s going to take a district championship to make another regional run like last season’s club did.

The pieces are there. At least half of the starting lineup is hitting around the .300 mark or better, and Hector Camacho has a 1.12 ERA through 11 appearances (5 starts). Upsetting Wellington will be a tall order, but it might only take a run or two from either club to seal the deal.

Manager Tony Gullo has created a great culture of winning at Central, reaching his 100th win in just seven seasons. Absolutely no one would be surprised to see the Broncos make a run in a tough district.

Palm Beach Gardens – Team Page

The Gators are near the bottom of the district one season after finishing as the state runner-up. It’s a rebuilding season of sorts for second-year manager Matt Judkins, but Gardens also faced one of the toughest schedules in all of 7A.

Despite a 4-17-1 record, the Gators are the No. 4 seed in the district playoff and will receive home-field advantage in the quarterfinal round. Anyone who has been to a playoff game at Gardens knows just how big of an advantage being at home is for the Gators.

Gardens’ offense is filled with .300-plus hitters, but plate discipline can be an issue at times. On the mound, Lucas Valencia (2.19 ERA) and Blake Matthews (9.2 K/9 IP) have fared well against the toughest competition on the schedule.

Royal Palm Beach – Team Page

The Wildcats have struggled recently, dropping six of their last games, but things are just getting started under first-year head coach Tim Maxwell. Royal Palm Beach will be the team to head into Palm Beach Gardens in the quarterfinal round, but the Wildcats have played better on the road than at home this season.

The offense hasn’t been the issue for Royal Palm. Three players — Brandon Teitel, Brandon Marchese and Jaxon Gelb — have 20 hits or more, and Zavier Hatfield should join the least by the end of the season. Marchese is particularly dangerous with runners in scoring position. He leads the team with 30 RBIs and two home runs. Edward Wood also has two homers.

The pitching staff will need to keep Gardens relatively quiet if Royal Palm wants a shot at playing Jupiter in the semifinals. Either way, the playoffs will be a good experience for a talented group of juniors set to return for Year 2 under Maxwell.

Wellington – Team Page

The Wolverines are the No. 2 seed in the district and have only lost a handful of games to quality opponents all season long. One of those losses came against in-district Jupiter but was a low-scoring, one-run affair.

Freshman Tyler Atkins has been elite this year with a 0.18 ERA through 38.0 innings, and sophomore Blake Anderson would be any other team’s ace with a 1.63 ERA through 30.0 innings. Pitching is the name of the game for Wellington, but the bats can come alive, too, especially at home.

If Wellington can get to the district championship and put the best version of itself on the field, there’s no reason the Wolverines can’t come out on top.

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