Seven-Run Comeback Lifts Coral Springs Charter Over Pine Crest

Regardless of how the rest of the season goes for Coral Springs Charter, the team can look back on their 2011 campaign and point to this past week as one of their more impressive stretches of the year. The Panthers completed their perfect week against three quality opponents by defeating district rival Pine Crest 12-10, in stunning, come from behind, fashion.

Coral Springs actually scored first, picking up two runs in the opening frame. The theme of the night for both teams was scoring runs in bunches while not producing many hits. The Panthers scored their two runs in the first in an odd way.

Lead-off hitter Vaugn Bryan led off the game by striking out, but reached base safely when the third strike went to the backstop. After a pop out to second, Derek Vetere reached on an error, and Vaugn scored. Clean-up hitter Matt Merek struck out for the second out of the inning, but Joseph Greenwood singled, driving in Vetere. By the end of the inning, Coral Springs Charter had scored two runs on one hit.

In the third, the game seemed to shift in favor of Pine Crest. The Panthers scored five runs on three hits, highlighted by a three-run, Ben Arkin double. In the fourth, Pine Crest tacked on four more runs on the strength of doubles from Alex Perez, Lance Kirschenbaum, and Zack Kessinger.

At this point, it appeared Pine Crest was going to cruise to victory, up 9-2, but C.S. Charter Head Coach Jerry Albert knew that this was not how his team was built.

“They could have given up,” said Albert, “They were down by so much, and it was ugly in the way they got down. That’s not the way we play baseball, and that’s not the way we’ve been playing.”

C.S. Charter finally showed how they have played so far this year in the fourth, scoring three runs. The big blow in the inning, a two-run homer, came off the bat of freshman Christian Khawly. Pine Crest still had a 9-5 lead after four. The teams exchanged runs in the fifth, and Pine Crest did not score in their half of the sixth, setting the stage for one of the more memorable comebacks in Broward this season.

Coral Springs Charter sent eleven players to the plate in the sixth, scoring six runs. Four walks helped the Panthers cause, but Greenwood was again a difference-maker when he hit a sacrifice fly to left to tie the score at ten.

“I just wanted to hit the ball in the air to the outfield,” said Greenwood, speaking about his approach heading into the game-tying at-bat. The third baseman finished the day 3-for-3, with three RBIs and a run scored.

When asked about the amazing comeback, Greenwood responded, “We just never gave up, from the first inning to the last. It feels incredible.”

The mood on the other side of the field could be described as somber, with Pine Crest suffering their second loss of the week.

“We got tight, we played a different game defensively, played a different game from the mound,” said Pine Crest Head Coach Glen Pierson, speaking about his team’s rough sixth inning. “And as a result, all that we had done before that, which was pretty remarkable, was washed away.”

Pierson then showed confidence in his young squad moving forward.

“We’ll come back from this, we definitely will.”

The Panthers, however, did have some bright spots. Kirschenbaum and Jake Toffler both went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Michael Pierson, the starting pitcher for Pine Crest, was on base four times.

For Coral Springs Charter, Bryan scored three runs, and Colton Rogers pitched two scoreless innings to pick up the win in relief.

Coral Springs Charter improved to 6-1, 1-0 in the district, while Pine Crest fell to 4-3 overall, and 1-1 in district play.

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