The Royal Palm Beach High School boys varsity baseball team fell to Forest Hill High School 8-2 on Friday, March 1. Though both teams struggled to score runs, a fifth-inning rally saw the Falcons send seven runners home to take a dramatic lead, leaving the Wildcats struggling to catch up.
For much of the first two innings, neither team could gain ground. After two outs for the Wildcats in the first inning, Brandon Hernandez walked to first. Then, while Sean Malynn stepped up to the plate, Hernandez stole second. Moments later, he stole third and was poised to run home, but a third out sent him back to the dugout.
At the bottom of the third, Hernandez again got on base, but was tagged out trying to steal. The distraction paved the way for T.J. Abrams to run home, putting the Wildcats ahead. But the lead didn’t last long. Forest Hill plated a run in the top of the fourth inning to tie the score at 1-1.
Royal Palm Beach tried to take the lead again in the fourth inning when Kevin Cordero hit a single. Malynn next hit the ball up the center, and it was dropped by a Forest Hill player. That gave Cordero the opportunity to take second base, while Malynn landed on third. Then, Shendell Winright came up to the plate. The bases loaded up when Winright was beaned by the Falcon pitcher, but the next at-bat was the third out, and the Wildcats returned to the dugout empty handed.
In the fifth inning, Forest Hill’s Jose Crespo stepped up to the plate with bases loaded and hit a triple, sending in three runs. Forest Hill had four additional runs that inning to jump out to an 8-1 lead.
Though the Wildcats managed to score once more on a home run, they were unable to overtake such a large lead and finished the game 8-2.
The Wildcats hosted Glades Central High School on Monday. The game ended with the Wildcats routing the Raiders, 17-0. They next host Santaluces High School in a 6:30 p.m. game on Friday.
Above: Wildcat pitcher Brandon Houk winds up for a pitch.
