Panthers Take Control Of Bracket B With 6-1 Victory Over Trojans

The Pembroke Pines Panthers are looking for respect. The team has made incremental strides the past few years, and now manager Onel Garcia has his squad on the verge of being known for their victories more than their effort. For the second time in the Fall Classic tournament, the Panthers bats were on display, and this time, they didn’t need much with ace Brandon Acevedo on the mound.

Much like the opener against the Bucks, Wednesday night’s performance was offensive, as the Panthers defeated the Trojans 6-1.

Acevedo was the story on the mound, going four innings and yielding only one run on three hits. Acevedo struck out 10 in another brilliant performance, but it was his team’s offense that he was most impressed with.

“This year, I know we can score runs, and it gives me a lot of confidence on the mound when I can go out there knowing we are going to score more than two runs,” said Acevedo. “Tonight, we established early that they couldn’t catch up to my fastball, so I just kept rearing back and throwing it. I think I even overthrew at times, and that cost me some control. That’s something I need to work on, but for the most part I felt great out there.”

While Acevedo was dealing on the mound, that Panthers offense went to work as well, scored a pair of runs in the second and third innings. In the second, Yoni Rodriguez walked, stole second and scored on an Israel Santana double to left.

The lead was padded in the third when John Ham led off with a triple to center and scored on an Acevedo single. The Trojans avoided more danger when they threw Acevedo out after a wide turn at first. The play saved a run as Luis Mercado followed with a triple.

The score remained 2-0 into the bottom of the fourth, when the Trojans offense finally broke through. Jack Kelly hit a one-out single. Designated runner Joseph Libio stole second and Mike Fitschen walked. The pair then pulled off a double steal. Libio scored on a two-out single to center by Eddie Torres. The Panthers ace was able to escape further damage by ending the inning with a strikeout.

In the top of the fifth, the Panthers showed their growth from seasons past when they immediately responded to the Trojan run with two runs of their own. Ham singled to lead off the inning, and Acevedo followed with a walk. Mercado laid down a perfect base-hit bunt, and Etienne Latour drove in the Panthers third run with a bases loaded walk. Rodriguez then executed a sacrifice squeeze, and by the time the inning was over, the Panthers had stretched their lead to 4-1.

“We talk about that all the time,” said Garcia. “Momentum is big in the game of baseball, and when the other teams scores like that, and gains the momentum, it’s important to get it right back. I’m proud of the guys for doing that tonight.

Trojans Manager Alan Clark agreed the two runs by the Panthers in the fifth were big.

“We scored a run and looked like we were starting to gain momentum, and then they came right back and put two on the board. That definitely looked like it took some air out of us. He’s (Acevedo) a great pitcher, so once we went down 4-1, we knew it was going to be tough to come back. They played a very good game, and we still have some work to do.”

One thing that Clark was pleased to see was the performance of Brady Acker. The Trojans starter went four strong innings, giving up only two runs. Acker got stronger as the night went on, striking out the side in his final inning.

“He looked like he took some time to get loose early in the game, but he battled and got stronger and stronger,” said Clark, who said despite the tough two games in the tournament, pitching has not been a problem for the Trojans this fall.

“We have pitched well all fall. The good thing about these tournament games is the kids get to play in a competitive environment. We were better tonight than we were last night, so I guess that’s a good thing we can take from this loss.”

While the Trojans fell to 0-2 in the Fall Classic, the Panthers now have visions of advancing to the second round next week, something they could not do last year. The Panthers are 2-0 in Bracket B, and face a big match-up Saturday night with the host Colts.

One of Wednesday, hitting stars, Israel Santana, who went 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI, believes his team will be up for the challenge.

“We came here to win a tournament,” said Santana. “Tonight, we played well, and we just have to stay focused on the tournament, and all the things we have to do to win on Saturday. We have confidence that we are going to win.”

Leave a comment using your facebook account!