BY GENE NARDI
On Friday, March 31, the Wellington High School varsity baseball team hosted rival Royal Palm Beach High School and put together a first-inning surge to hold on for the 5-2 win over the Wildcats. Wellington is 2-0 in the series against Royal Palm Beach.
The Wolverines (11-4) opened up by scoring four runs to take an early 4-0 lead after the first inning, but it didn’t come until after Wellington managed to weather a Wildcat storm.
Royal Palm Beach’s Christian Adams launched a double that later helped the Wildcats to get the bases loaded. However, the Wolverines locked it up and shut down the early Royal Palm Beach threat. Wolverine pitcher Connor Dunnam settled down after the start, only allowing a single run.
“His stuff is so good that even when he’s off with his off-speed, he’s good enough to keep us in the game against a very good team,” Wellington coach Scott Riddle said of Dunnam.
In the bottom of the first, Wellington had quick success at bat, combined with good base-running decisions. Danny Hernandez sparked the Wellington offense, hitting an RBI single, then Dylan Tosto and Christian Vazquez both hit RBI doubles. By the close of the first inning, the Wolverines posted a 4-0 advantage.
“That first inning, when they got the bases loaded and didn’t score, I got the guys together and said: ‘Look, that’s a huge momentum swing for us. If we put one or two on them right now, they’ll be deflated,’” Riddle said. “We were lucky to get four. I think we put a little pressure on them with our base running.”
In the top of third inning, Royal Palm Beach (11-6) began to find some success at the plate. Sean Houck and Tarik Latchmansingh both had base hits. Catcher Nick Toney hit a single RBI for the Wildcats to cut the Wellington margin to 4-1.
In the fourth inning, Winthrop University commit Angelo Brunelas took over on the mound for Wellington. Hernandez shined again for the Wolverines, with an RBI triple to extend Wellington’s lead to 5-1 going into the fifth inning.
Latchmansingh struck an RBI double for Royal Palm Beach to claw back a run, but it was not going to be enough for the Wildcats. Wellington’s defense played strongly in the closing innings to seal the Wolverine win 5-2.
“You get a little bit of anxiety at their lineup when you’re first trying to decide who’s going to pitch, because they’ve got five or six guys in their lineup who can absolutely ruin your day with one mistake,” Riddle said. “They’re a great baseball team, there’s no question. They’ve been playing good baseball, and we were lucky enough to get a few runs early. I’m extremely happy.”
Wellington faced Atlantic and Seminole Ridge high schools this week, while Royal Palm Beach played Pahokee and Forest Hill high schools, but results were not available by press time.
ABOVE: Wellington’s Angelo Brunelas dives safely to the plate as Royal Palm Beach catcher Nick Toney tries to make the tag.
