Coral Springs Edges Palm Beach Central 5-4 in HSBN Preseason Challenge

Palm Beach Central vs. Coral Springs.

Sounds like matchup you’d find in the regional playoffs. In this case, the calendar reads February, but the intensity among the teams on Wednesday was the same as if it were May with a trip to state on the line.

Coral Springs held off a late rally by Palm Beach Central to edge the Broncos 5-4 at Coral Springs High School.

The Colts and Broncos continued their game from Tuesday, which was cut short by rain. Before the downpour, Springs scored three runs in the second to gain an advantage. Joe Silvani’s two-run double allowed Alan Sharkey and Jordan Gleicher to score before Justin Mixon reached on a fielder’s choice and came home for another run.

On Wednesday, the game was restarted from the top of the third, and the Colts picked up where they left off Tuesday, scoring two more runs. Silvani’s bases-loaded walk brought in Gleicher, and Dylan Ebel singled in Austin Nelson.

Sophomore Jorge Alfonso relieved Lance Stiles and corralled the Colts the rest of the game, allowing only a single by Lewis Brinson.

Meanwhile, Palm Beach Central was getting warmed up and broke through in the sixth. Gage Morey reached on a fielder’s choice before Shawn Murray singled. Brady Roberson got on with a fielder’s choice before consecutive hits by Ian Hagenmiller, Gabe Martinez, Danny Hernandez and Kevin Aubry, producing four runs. Aubry finished with two hits, as did Roberson.

Silvani came in to pitch in the seventh and shut the door on Central’s too-little, too-late rally. It was his solid performance on the mound coupled with his big second-inning hit that earned Silvani the High School Baseball Network Player of the Game award. His prize is a free extended profile on BrowardHighSchoolBaseball.com.

Silvani said he did just what he does every time he pitches.

“I shut out everything and focus on the batter,” he said. “I do what I got to do to get them out.”

Colts coach Frank Bumbales said he used the game against an opponent like Central to help the team focus on pitching and defense.

“They’re a quality team, very well-coached,” Bumbales said. “They play hard. They fought back, and you have to give them credit for not giving up.”

Central coach Scott Benedict also used the game to get his players fine-tuned for the season and didn’t regard it as he would had the matchup come in the playoffs.

“We wanted to get the inexperienced guys to try to get a little more comfortable and get rid of the jitters,” Benedict said. “It was a nice to play a quality opponent. I hope we learn from our mistakes.”

Coral Springs will play Wellington at 7:30 p.m. at American Heritage-Delray, and Palm Beach Central will travel to Flanagan for a 7 p.m. game.

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