BY GENE NARDI
On Friday, Feb. 26, the Royal Palm Beach High School softball squad hosted Spanish River High School and was held scoreless by the Sharks in a 4-0 loss.
Royal Palm Beach pitcher Jaime Tino had an impressive 10 strikeouts on the night for the Wildcats (2-3).
Spanish River got on the board early in the top of the third inning to take a 3-0 lead. The Wildcats played solid defense to hold the Sharks at bay — all the way to the top of the sixth inning, the score remained 3-0.
While the Wildcat defense was busy trying to control the tempo of the game, it was the hitting that was missing. The Wildcats struggled at the plate to cut into the deficit.
The Sharks added to the tally, capitalizing on a Royal Palm Beach error. The Spanish River runner was caught between third base and the plate, which appeared to be a certain out, but an over-thrown ball from the Wildcat catcher to the third baseman went past, forcing the left fielder to cover. The mishap sent the Shark runner to the plate for the run, extending the Spanish River lead to 4-0.
The Wildcat defense buckled down in the infield and shut down the Sharks’ intentions of extending the lead to put the game out of reach in the top of the seventh inning.
Royal Palm Beach needed to come up big at the plate to begin any chance of rallying. The closest the Wildcats could come was to third base.
Fly outs plagued the final inning, cutting the Wildcats’ efforts short, and they closed out the game with the 4-0 loss.
Royal Palm Beach is 2-3 early on in the season. The Wildcats faced Seminole Ridge on Tuesday night, to make up for a delayed game earlier in the season, but results were not available by press time.
ABOVE: Royal Palm Beach catcher Megann Linardes looks to throw toward third base.
