Western Comes From Behind To Beat District Rival Cypress Bay

For much of the game Tuesday night, it appeared that Western would suffer their second district loss in as many games. After getting beat by Flanagan last Friday, the last thing that the Wildcats could afford was a loss at the hands of their other rival, Cypress Bay.

Western hitters were sluggish early, but put things together in the late innings in a stunning 4-3 come from behind victory over the Lightning. Hebert Quintana and Lucas Carman were the heroes on this night, providing the big hits in the pivotal sixth inning.

Cypress Bay started the game quickly when Steven Reznyk opened the game with a lead-off home run off Western starter Josh Fellerman. The Lightning then added a run in the second on a Reznyk single, and another in the fourth when Reznyk drove in Brian Lubasky. At that point in the game, it appeared Cypress Bay was on their way to a victory.

Lightning star Domenick Mancini was masterful through the first three innings, allowing no hits. In the fourth, the Wildcats cut the lead to 3-2 on a single, a couple of walks, and several wild pitches. Mancini regained his composure and got out of the inning with Cypress Bay still leading.

The score stayed the same until the sixth when Quintana led off with a hard hit single. Kyle Perry then executed a clutch sacrifice bunt, moving Quintana to second. Head Coach Sonny Hansley then sent in pinch runner Tyler Fichter to run for Quintana at second. After a walk to Russell Hackworth, and a strikeout of Tommy Caruso, Carman stepped to the plate wit the game hanging in the balance.

Carman worked himself into a two strike hole, and then he relied on what he had learned in practice to hit a single up the middle to score both the tying and go-ahead runs.

“When I got down to two strikes, I just wanted to make sure I choked up and put the ball in play,” said Carman. “Because anything happens when you get the ball in play, and I just wanted to poke it somewhere, and it went up the middle, and it worked.”

Overlooked for much of the night because of the way the Wildcats came back was Fellerman’s performance on the mound. Cypress Bay got to the lefty early, but the Western starter did not get rattled. If not for a couple of fielding miscues, this game could have gone down as one of Fellerman’s best statistical games of his career. The Wildcats ace struck out nine and gave up only two earned runs in five innings.

“I thought he was awesome,” said Hansley, commenting on Fellerman’s performance. “He had some tough spots he had to work his way out of and that’s a testament to his maturity. Things we’ve been talking about, getting better, and maturing, and he did that tonight.”

One of the bright spots for the Lightning in this game was second baseman Andrew Paredes. The junior second baseman made several spectacular defensive plays that saved runs from scoring.

Ryan Lindsay again pitched well in relief for the Wildcats, picking up the win. Lindsay worked himself into a jam in the top of the seventh, loading the bases before getting Lubasky to fly out to center to end the game.

The win for Western pulled them within one game of the district lead. West Broward and Flanagan are both 3-0 in district play, while the Wildcats are 2-1. Cypress Bay dropped to 1-2 in league play.

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