Private Team Cruises To Senior All-Star Victory
The Private Team celebrate with Edison Rodriguez after his solo home run in the third inning.
In the five years of the HSBN Broward Senior All-Star event offense has reigned supreme. That trend continued in Saturday’s 2015 edition, which was hosted at Mavericks Field at Archbishop McCarthy.
Behind some big hits and a steady barrage of offense, the Private Team pulled away with a 9-2 victory over the Public Team. The result evens the series at a game apiece in the second year under the current format that pits selected public-school senior players against the private-school senior players.
Sagemont’s Edison Rodriguez supplied the deciding run with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs the former Lion smacked a dinger over the right field fence to put the Private Team up 3-0. The red squad had taken the lead an inning earlier, after Calvary Christian’s Josh Lane walked and scored on an RBI single from Westminster Academy’s Luis Leal, and University School’s Jesse Crosno blooped an RBI single into shallow right field.
The Private Team added another run in the bottom of the fifth. North Broward Prep’s Jared Schwait walked and Calvary Christian’s Andrew Gottfried followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Pine Crest’s Griffin Conine hit a hard grounder to first that allowed Schwait to score when the defense opted to play for two outs with a 3-6-3 double play.
The red club had a strong start on the mound as well, as Archbishop McCarthy’s Christian Demby got things started with two scoreless frames. Although Monarch’s James Buckley and Coral Glades’ Michael Grey both singled in the first, Demby dug in to record the second of his three strikeouts to end the threat. North Broward’s Briana Fagan, Calvary Christian’s Tommy Taborda and Cardinal Gibbons’ Karl Hirsch delivered scoreless frames over the next three innings.
The Public Team ended the shutout in the top of the sixth. Coral Springs Charter’s Tyler Ray led off with a liner down the right field line for a standup double. Douglas’ Dominic Dicaprio lined an RBI single to right, and after a career of being replaced for a courtesy-runner the former Eagles catcher seized his moment to run the bases by swiping second. Dicaprio reached to third when his former teammate Pemron Burrows reached on an error, and another former Eagle drove him home on a grounder from Devin Conn that the defense turned for a 6-4-3 double play.
With the lead now trimmed in half at 4-2, the red team answered right back to put things out of reach. American Heritage’s Chase Reyes singled, St. Thomas Aquinas’ Alex Dickinson walked and his former teammate Nick Marchese slugged an RBI double. Calvary’s Josh Lane reached on an error to allow Dickinson to score, and Archbishop McCarthy’s Fred Matos was hit by a pitch to drive in Marchese.
Pompano reliever AJ Marcantonio was able to limit the damage by getting three strikeouts to end the frame.
Pitching tightened up late. Westminster Academy’s Davis Fouts, Archbishop McCarthy’s Brian Van Belle and Cardinal Gibbons’ Nate Pawelczyk all tossed scoreless innings over the final three. While Archbishop McCarthy’s Jake Anchia connected for a single to left, Coral Springs Charter’s Tommy Romero also struck out the side to keep any runs from scoring in his inning. South Plantation’s Mike Mele recorded a perfect 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to close out the day.
The Private Team plated its final two runs in the bottom of the eighth. Pawelczyk and Highland Christian’s Drexler Macaay singled and Edison Rodriguez walked to load the bases. Highland Christian’s Brendly Martina came in to run for Pawelczyk, and Jared Schwait smacked a double that allowed two runners to score before the final out of the inning was recorded on the bases.
All-Time Broward All-Star Game Results
2014 – Public Team 11, Private Team 5
2013 – 2A-6A 8, 7A-8A 1
2012 – 7A-8A 7, 2A-6A 4
2011 – 1A-4A 10, 5A-6A 9
*HSBN sends a big thank you to all those who generously donated used baseball equipment to area Chicago White Sox Scout Pepe Ortega. The equipment will be shipped to the Dominican Republic to help underprivileged ballplayers.
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