Plantation Wins First Game Of The Season

The Plantation Colonels have had some tough times early in the season during Manager Neil Andreoli’s maiden voyage as the skipper. On Monday, the Colonels erased an entire half season of heartbreak by producing their biggest offensive explosion of the year.

Plantation fell behind early, but rallied and then kept pouring on the runs in a 15-5 win over Coconut Creek. The win was the first of the year for the Colonels and also the first in Andreoli’s career.

“We’ve played some really tight games that could have went either way,” said a relieved Andreoli. “Today, we finally played a complete game. Our pitchers threw strikes for the most part, and Matt was tremendous.”

Andreoli was speaking about his starting shortstop Matt Costa, who had a career day at the plate for the Colonels. Costa finished the day 4-for-5 with four doubles and seven RBIs. For the hitting star, it was all about taking advantage of opportunities.

“I was just trying to be aggressive at the plate,” said Costa. “The last few games I’ve been taking some pitches that I should have hit, so today, I just wanted to be aggressive and get my hands extended and through the ball.”

Early on, it looked as though another milestone might be reached in the game. Coconut Creek Manager Roger Davidson has been on the cusp of his 400th career win for a week, and Monday it looked as though that 400th victory might finally come.

The Cougars watched as Plantation took a 4-1 lead in the top of the second but responded to reclaim the lead 5-4 in their half of the inning. Victor Booth singled and scored in the inning, as did Carl McKinney. Jared Miller had a walk and a run, and starting pitcher Winston Nunez was hit by a pitch and eventually scored as well. Jose Baez had the big hit in the second, a three-run double to deep left.

The score remained 5-4 into the fourth, and that is when the Colonels took control of the game, scoring three in the fourth, five in the fifth, and three in the sixth to secure their first win.

Five Plantation hitters — Tyler Price, RJ Henle, starting pitcher Sam Reich, Chris Yearsley and Adam Mustafa — all contributed two hits to the 15-run outburst. Henle also had three RBIs.

For Andreoli, the game represented the improvement the team has made from the start of the season.

“We battle,” said Andreoli. “We’re not perfect, we make some mistakes, but we stay in games. Our defense has improved, and it is good to see us starting to come together. We have a lot of work to do, but getting a win is something we can build on.”

Plantation will not have long to reflect on the victory, as the Colonels will return to district play Wednesday at home versus Cooper City.

Davidson and his Creek team will look to pick up that elusive 400th win on the road Wednesday at Stranahan.

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