South Plantation Holds Off District Rival Plantation For 12-8 Win

The South Plantation Paladins held off the Plantation Colonels Tuesday night as the rain drops went away once play started.  South Plantation scored early and held off the Colonels late rally for a 12-8 win, as emotions ran high on both sides.

“It’s a tough rivalry, they battled and we hung in there, our pitchers threw well and we got some timely hitting,” said South Plantation Head Coach Dustin Major. ” We’re going to be seeing these guys again in the district tournament.”

The Paladins scored three in the top of the first on two hits.  John Kennedy was hit by a pitch the lead-off the game, stole second, and scored on an RBI single by Ben Osborne.  Matt Miller walked behind Kennedy and would eventually score on a wild pitch.  Osborne scored on a single by Gerard Deluca.

Plantation was unable to rally back in the bottom half of the first after a lead-off single, and the Paladins took an early 4-0 lead in the second on a one-out home run by Kennedy. 

The Colonels would load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the inning, but were only able to score one run on a two-out RBI single by Adam Shorr.

After allowing that run, South Plantation took a 9-1 lead by scoring five runs in the third on five hits. Brandon Burgess singles to lead-off the inning, followed by a RBI double by Deluca. A couple of walks then loaded the bases for Kennedy.  He would clear them with a triple to left-center field.

The Paladins would add one more to make it 10-1 in the fourth after a lead-off triple by Burgess and an error from the shortstop. 

Plantation would not roll over and tried to fight their way back into the game.  In the fifth, they would score four runs with two outs.  Anthony Birchall hit a three-run home run to make it 10-4.  Mark Ramcharitar followed with a double, and scored on an error to make it 10-5.

A quick top half of the sixth kept momentum with the Colonels, and they would use it to score three more runs to cut the lead to 10-8.  Brian Gentry reached base on an error the lead off the inning and later scored.  Matt Costa singled and also scored.  Kody Jones had a RBI double and Birchall added a RBI single.

“We battled, we made it a 10-8 game going into the top of the seventh and our guys competed,” said Plantation Head Coach Albert Destrade. “There was a lot of energy, a lot of hostility, but I’m proud of the way we came back.”

The bats for South Plantation woke back up in the seventh to give them a couple insurance runs and take away some of the momentum that the Colonels had built.  Matt Fuller had a one-out single, scoring on an RBI triple from Sal Rodriguez. Osbourne singled, upping the lead to 12-8.

Plantation could not rally in the bottom half as Alex Dejesus held on for the save.  For the Paladins, Burgess started and went five innings, picking up the win while striking out eight. Trevor Takacs received the loss for Plantation in two innings of work.

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