Plantation Scores Early, Holds Off Chaminade Rally

Plantation scored seven runs in the first two innings but allowed Chaminade-Madonna to come back and make it a one-run game before Peter Almeida came in to shut the door and secure the 7-6 win.

Chaminade won the coin toss, making the host Plantation the visitor for the game. Plantation got off to a hot start with the bats as Matt Costa doubled to lead off the game. Costa advanced to third on a balk and scored on a wild pitch to make it 1-0.

A quick 1-2-3 inning by Mark Ramcharitar brought the Plantation bats back up and they sent 11 batters to the plate, scoring six runs. Designated hitter Julian Spaulding led off the second with a single and scored on Joe Viveros hit by pitch.

“We came out and swung the bats well. We put together some quality at-bats,” Plantation coach Albert Destrade said. “We return a lot of veteran bats, and putting runs on the board is going to be key for us.”

Matt Costa walked to bring home Daniel Vasquez, and Adam Shorr walked, allowing Viveros to score. He was followed by a two-out, two-run single by clean-up hitter Anthony Birchall.  Spaulding came up with his second hit of the inning and singled in Shorr.

Chaminade started its comeback bid in the bottom of the second with two runs on a couple of hits. Chris Garcia and Keith Oren singled with two outs and scored on a hit-by-pitch and a wild pitch.

Dustin Hanley kept his team in the game, shutting down the Plantation offense for the final four innings. His team brought nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs before leaving the bases loaded.

Chris Comellos led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Chris Flores. Luis Guillorme and Ed Guardarrama had back-to-back singles to load the bases.  Guillorme scored on a single from Garcia and Guardarrama came home on a bases-loaded walk to Juan Martinez.

Chaminade scored one more in the fourth on another sacrifice fly from Flores, but the Lions got no closer.

Almeida pitched the final two innings to earn the save for Plantation. Ramcharitar started and worked four innings for the win.

“We needed a guy that was going to come in and pound the zone, and Almeida came in and picked up a big save for us,” Destrade said.

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