BY GENE NARDI
The Wellington High School softball squad hosted Jupiter High School on Thursday, March 27 in a battle between the county’s best. The Wolverines fell to the Warriors 14-6.
The Wolverines lost to Jupiter earlier in the season, now falling to the sweep curse, just as Wellington has been the thorn for Palm Beach Gardens High School, sweeping the top-ranked team earlier in the season.
Wellington (14-4) found itself in the hole early, trailing 4-0 in the top of the third inning. In the second, Wellington had runners on second and third, but could not get anyone across the plate for a score. The team gave up a two-run homer to Jupiter’s Jonace Tulloch, who launched a grand slam in the sixth inning.
The Wolverines battled back and chipped away at the Jupiter lead, closing the gap 4-3 in the bottom of the third, and eventually took a 5-4 lead when Madi Kiper sent a ball to deep center-field that hit the fence for a two-run double and the lead. Wellington tallied four hits in the bottom of the third inning.
But the Wolverine lead was short-lived, as Jupiter (17-2) rallied back with two runs in the fourth inning to retake the lead 6-5. The fifth inning was scoreless, with solid defensive play from both teams.
The sixth inning was the blow that Wellington hoped they could avoid — Jupiter’s Tulloch launched a grand slam to extend the Warrior lead to 10-5. The Wolverines clawed back, earning a run to make the score 10-6. But in the top of the seventh inning, Jupiter made it 14-6, adding four more runs.
Wellington found itself in front of a mountain to climb, needing eight runs just to even the score, and could not recover from the deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning. Jupiter claimed the victory 14-6.
Wellington traveled to Dwyer High School on Monday, coming away with a 13-0 victory. The team hosted Palm Beach Central High School on Wednesday, but results were not available by press time. The Wolverines travel next week to Park Vista High School.
ABOVE: Wellington’s Brianna Gonzalez slides into third base.
