CS Charter Capitalizes Late To Down Highlands, 4-1

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The HSBN Broward Game of the Week returned to the spotlight on Friday night in Deerfield Beach, and it brought two talented teams that went toe-to-toe for seven solid rounds of baseball. The featured Game of the Week began several years ago to help raise funds for the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, and the 2015 slate began with Coral Springs Charter paying a visit to host Highlands Christian.

The contest lived up to its billing, as the Panthers jumped ahead in the sixth inning to pull away to an eventual 4-1 decision. The Panthers (1-1) replaced all but two starters in the lineup this season, and for most of the game the batters struggled at the plate. Knights’ starter Wesley Carroll and Panthers’ starter Ryker Faircloth controlled the game from the mound, and baserunners were scarce.

What was not scarce was the excitement for the event. Despite the cold temperatures, baseball fans lined the stands to witness an excellent ball game. The festivities also got started with two guests throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. For Charter, this honor went to St. Thomas Aquinas legend Ed Waters, and for the Knights this honor went to devoted longtime Athletic Director Jim Good.

“I think what HSBN does and the partnership with Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital is a great thing,” Panthers Manager Mike Higgins said. “It brings a little hype to what is a normal game, and our guys were all excited about it. It was a true, true honor. It was especially an honor for me to bring my old baseball coach back to throw the first pitch. I’m just excited to be out here and be around the game.”

Coral Springs Charter got the bats going late. Greg Budden ripped a liner to center field to drive in Sam Roman with the go-ahead run, and Victor Pimental padded that lead with a big two-RBI single in the seventh.

“I just sat back on the curveball and did what I had to do,” Budden said. “It felt good at the time, and it felt better when we got some cushion with Victor’s hit in the last inning.”

Clinging to the slim lead in the seventh, Emilio Valdez ripped a leadoff double to deep center and Tyler Ray was given an intentional walk to try and set up the double play. James Doherty loaded the bags with a nice bunt single down the third base line.

With all the pressure on, the Knights countered with some very impressive and timely defense. First baseman James McGrath snared a line-drive for the first out, and then pitcher Kyle Bombardier made an impressive pickoff throw to erase a baserunner. Suddenly the Knights (0-2) needed just one out to quell this threat and take their final hacks at a comeback.

Pimental locked into a battle with Bombardier, falling behind 0-2 and then fouling off pitch after pitch. At the seventh offering Pimental poked the bat out to stroke a liner to center field, making things much more comfortable with a three-run advantage.

“We came up in big situations where we had the key hits and we played the defense,” Pimental said. “We came out on top and it feels great. We knew it was going to be a battle right when the game started. We had confidence going in with Ryker on the mound; he’s our number two and he did really well.”

Faircloth was every bit as good as advertised. The lanky left-hander went four strong innings on 56 pitches, allowing two hits and walking none. He seemed to have his best stuff when it mattered most, particularly in the fourth. Knights’ left fielder Daniel Maloy beat out a hard bouncer up the middle to start the frame, and Swindly Lint moved him over into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Faircloth got a foul pop out and his eighth and final strikeout to end the inning, before handing things over to reliever Zack Webber.

As neither starter factored into the decision, it essentially came down to a two-inning game. Faircloth never wavered in believing that his teammates would finish the job.

“I knew the team was going to come out and do their thing, and play with confidence,” Faircloth said. “Webber came in and did his thing.”

Webber picked up the victory with two-and-a-third scoreless innings.

Lint accounted for the only run scored against Faircloth. Hitting third in the order, Lint clubbed a 0-1 offering deep to left-center field and raced around the bases for a triple in the first. He then raced the final ninety feet home following a throwing error. It was the only time the Panthers pitchers allowed a runner to score.

“We got it done pitching, and we told them it’s one of those games where they made a bunch of mistakes but they came through at times when we had to come through,” Higgins said. “It’s very early in the year, so we’re going to see this kind of stuff early. But we came together and got some good stuff done. They’re a good ball club and it definitely felt like a home opener game for them.”

Carroll did not take long to settle in on his home mound. The right-hander recorded strikeouts on eight of the first nine outs the team recorded. Although Charter was able to put guys on base against him, Carroll also saved his best stuff for the biggest moments to dig down and make a strikeout to end scoring threats in four consecutive innings.

The visitors scored just once against Carroll, as Ray scored on an RBI single from Michael Perugini in the first. Ray walked to get on base, and then stole second to get into scoring position. Two batters later Perugini sent a liner into left field to get his club on the board.

Carroll ended that threat with a called third strike, and his offense quickly responded to even things up. He then kept his team in the game, allowing two hits while recording 11 strikeouts.

The Knights had their chances and were in the fight to the end. Down to their final swings the batters showed no fear to come out swinging. Drexler Macaay smacked a 2-1 offering to the deepest part of the park, but Ray did an excellent job of tracking the ball and running it into his glove just short of the fence. Undaunted, McGrath and James Wood both followed with base hits to bring the tying run to the plate.

The Panthers countered by bringing on closer Chris Chico, who needed just five pitches to finish things off and earn the save.

It was a tough loss for Highlands, and Manager Bruce Charlebois admitted he is over moral victories. The team has shown a lot of poise, enthusiasm and aggressiveness, but has yet to earn a victory to show for it following two tough, close losses this week.

“To be quite honest, I am sick of close games and finding bright spots. We need to win,” Charlebois said. “We have got to figure out how to win baseball games. We have several guys who run 6.7 60’s or better, but if they don’t make contact and get on base it doesn’t make any difference how fast they are. Mitchell threw a good game and he had some of his best mound presence I have seen, and he responded well to some things.”

It was a tough scenario for the Knights Friday. Just before game time the team had to move Lint behind the plate even though he had not caught a game in over five years, following back spasms that forced a late scratch to the regular starter. Then three pitches into the contest a power outage occurred, which halted play for nearly a half hour with the Knights defense on the field and their starter needing to get warmed up all over again. But despite this adversity, Charlebois expects his guys to respond and overcome.

“On the back of our shirts it says ‘No excuses’, so that’s what it is,” Charlebois said. “We’re 0-2 and it does not give us a good statement going into district play. We needed to have one up on everybody as far as the mental side of it, and when people read the paper or go onto HSBN tomorrow they needed to see that we beat Charter and that we are for real. This team’s skill set is much better than we have had, but the result is not better than we’ve been getting.”

With just one week gone in this young season, these two clubs got the chance to play a quality game under the lights in front of a packed house. It was a true test that came early in the year, and both teams can rest satisfied to know the effort was there. The intrigue to see where this experience brings them is just another great part of what makes baseball season so exciting to watch.

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