Pines Charter Tops West Broward On Senior Day

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It was senior day at West Broward High School. Pregame ceremonies were held to honor the seniors who have led the West Broward Bobcat baseball team for several years. Many of the proud parents, families and friends entered the park with their honorees to show appreciation. Pembroke Pines Charter High School brought their seniors also and with a show of good will were applauded by the home crowd… until the game began.

The Jaguars, loaded with seniors of their own, spoiled the Bobcats’ special day by topping the home team 9-3. Led by seniors Alex Monge-Rodriguez, Anthony Gomez and Daniel Rodriguez-Velez, Pembroke Pines Charter broke out for four runs in the top of the third inning and never looked back.

The third inning started with a hit batsman and a walk. Then Monge-Rodriguez laced a single into center field to score a run. After a pop out, Gomez hit a fly ball down the right field line that could not be reached. It rolled away from the outfielder and two runs scored. Rodriguez-Velez then hit a double to right-center field to score Gomez and up the score to 4-0.

Staked to a four-run lead, Jaguars starting pitcher Brett Alayon ran into a little trouble in the bottom of the third. After a double by Bobcats senior Brandon Jenkins and a bunt single by Steven Revilla, West Broward pushed across a run on an infield ground out to make the score 4-1. Pembroke Pines Charter quelled the rally by catching a base runner trying to steal, followed by a ground out back to the mound.

“Ayalon threw five strong innings for us. He battles every time we give him the ball,” Jaguars Manager Carlos Iglesias said. “The team knows he battles and they have a lot of confidence in him.”

Pembroke Pines Charter (13-4-1) added to its lead with runs in the fourth and the fifth. West Broward (11-9) tried to get back in the game with two runs in the bottom of the fifth on a two-RBI single by senior Samyr Santos. But once again, Alayon was able to induce an inning-ending tapper back to the mound.

“It has been a long season. We want to end it on a positive note,” Ayalon asserted. “I am focused on performing well for my teammates, my coaches and the fans who have been supportive all year.”

With the score 6-3, Pembroke Pines Charter, put the game out of reach by adding three more runs in the sixth.

“The key to the game was timely hits. We had timely hits throughout the lineup,” Iglesias said.” We put pressure on their defense and it worked for us.”

The game was full of exploits by seniors on both sides of field. For the Jaguars, Monge-Rodriguez had three hits and scored a run. Peter Dourvetakis had an RBI and scored a run. Gomez had two hits, scored two runs and had two RBIs. Anthony Nogueiras had a triple and a single, two RBIs and threw a Bobcat out at home plate in the second inning. Alayon backed up his senior teammates by tossing five strong innings to secure the win.

On the West Broward side, senior Eddie Messel made an outstanding diving catch of a ball headed for the left-center field gap. Eddie Garcia, played excellent defense at third base, making all three outs in the fifth inning. Along with that, he collected two hits and scored once. Santos had two RBIs and Jenkins scored a run following his third-inning double.

“We would have liked to have won for the seniors. It didn’t work out that way,” West Broward Manager Sergio Ambros stated. “We got all of our seniors in the game today, except for one who pitched yesterday. This is a great group who have been with me for four years.”

Both these teams will take their senior-laden squads into their respective district tournaments soon, and both feel confident that they will excel. 

“We have a couple of games next week,” Ambros said. ” We are looking to turn this around a little and head into the districts on a positive note.”

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