CS Charter Outlasts Pine Crest In District Barnburner

The heavyweight battle between District 4A-13 rivals Pine Crest and Coral Springs Charter lived up to expectations Tuesday night as the two Panthers from opposite sides of Broward County slugged out 15 runs and 24 hits at Cypress Park.

When the final bell rang, it was the Panthers in blue and white who finished 9-6 victors as Coral Springs Charter improved to 4-0 on the season.

“I said to the kids after the game, when you can win baseball games where you don’t play your best game, that’s a sign of something positive,” Charter Manager Dan Rovetto said.

Although the game certainly had its sloppy moments, Coral Springs Charter had five players with multiple hits, including senior second baseman Luis Guillorme, who was 4-for-4 with a double and an RBI, and junior first baseman Matthew Fiernan, who drove in three runs.

Also, sophomore starter Tommy Romero, making his first district start, looked dominant at times, despite allowing six earned runs over four innings.

“He did a great job, getting thrown into this environment,” Rovetto said about his young right-hander.

Romero took a 1-0 lead into the third inning, but saw that vanish when he allowed two-out singles to Zack Kone and Pine Crest (2-1, 1-1) starter Alex Perez, who lasted just two innings on the mound himself.

Kone scored one batter later on a Chandler Cissel single, before Chris Koppenhaver doubled home both Perez and Cissel for the first of many lead changes on the night.

CSC put a run across in the bottom of the inning and again in the fourth to tie things up at three, but then fell behind again in the fifth.

Romero was pulled after loading the bases with no outs, making way for lanky lefty Brent Kissinger. Pine Crest took advantage of the change, scoring three times in the inning to re-take the lead, this time by three runs.

Dazed but not KO’d, Coral Springs Charter pulled itself off the ropes and scored twice in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a Fiernan single, and then came out swinging hard in the sixth.

Cody Woodburn led off with a triple and scored one batter later on a deep Guillorme double. Guillorme came home with the go-ahead run when Brandon Laboy drove him home, and then came the key play of the night. Fiernan singled to left to drive in Joe McChrystal, with the throw home sailing all the way to the backstop. The throw back to third to try and nab the advancing Fiernan was also high, allowing the original batter to round the bases completely and make it a 9-6 game.

Pine Crest loaded the bases in the seventh to make things interesting, but Nicholas Grecco got the final two outs to pick up the save.

“The wheels fell off. We haven’t played ball like that in a while,” Pine Crest manager Glen Pierson said. “But they (Coral Springs Charter) played really well, they kept fighting and every single chance we had, they answered. I tip my hat to those guys. We’ll definitely figure things out and prepare all week for a complete performance on Saturday (against Chaminade-Madonna).”

Pierson did have to feel encouraged by Kone going 3-for-4 and his three through five hitters combining to go 7-for-11, even if it was all in a losing cause.

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