BY GENE NARDI
The Seminole Ridge High School baseball team traveled Friday, March 4 to take on local rival Royal Palm Beach High School and held on to defeat the Wildcats 5-3.
Seminole Ridge (6-1-1) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, but the Wildcats (3-7) promptly answered back with two runs to tie it 2-2.
It appeared that Royal Palm Beach would stifle any Hawk threat at the plate, as the Wildcats quickly grabbed two outs in the first inning. Seminole Ridge had other plans.
Joey Schergen, Richie Cotromano and Brett Fiore helped orchestrate the early lead for the Hawks with solid batting.
Sean Houke and Nick Toney came up big at the plate for the Wildcats in the bottom of the first, driving in two runs that locked the game up at 2-2 going into the second inning.
Seminole Ridge regained the lead when Schergen hit an RBI single to give the Hawks a 3-2 lead.
Anthony Elios launched a double into center field that dropped in behind the Royal Palm Beach infield and sparked the Hawk offense to drive in another run, extending the team’s lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the third inning.
Royal Palm Beach pushed back in the fourth inning to chip away at the Hawk lead. Luke Hollander hit a single, stole second and eventually crossed the plate to rally the Wildcats to within one run, 4-3.
Wildcat shortstop Troy Hamilton came up big late in the game with two double plays to keep his team in the game, but Royal Palm Beach could not muster the offense needed to build a comeback.
The Hawks would drive in one more run to extend the lead to 5-3. The Wildcats had one chance remaining in the bottom of the seventh inning but again fell short.
The Hawks improved to 6-1 on the season, with their only loss coming at the hands of a tough Park Vista High School team. Royal Palm Beach fell to 3-7.
ABOVE: Seminole Ridge third baseman Richie Cotromano forces Royal Palm Beach runner Sean Houck back as he throws to second.
