The Polo Park Middle School baseball team may not have won the Palm Beach County middle school baseball championship this fall, but the memories of the season will last forever.
During the recently completed fall season, the Stallions, under the leadership of head coach Craig Kaliser, completed the regular season with a perfect 10-0 record. It was the team’s first undefeated regular season in Kaliser’s 18 years as the school’s coach.
After completing the regular season with an unblemished record, the young Stallions focused on running the table in the postseason and capturing the team’s fourth county championship in school history, all under the leadership of Kaliser. They needed to win three postseason games to become the champions.
The playoffs began on Thursday, Oct. 16, but Polo Park received a bye, courtesy of having the league-best regular-season record.
On Tuesday, Oct. 21, Polo Park hosted Conniston Middle School. Polo Park won that game, 11-3. The Stallions were led by Braden Buser and Parker Humphrey. Both players had two hits and scored two runs. Buser had one RBI, and Humphrey had two RBIs.
Polo Park’s pitchers that day were Buser and Jaiden Hernandez. In the five-inning game, Buser and Hernandez combined for six strikeouts and six walks, while limiting Conniston to only five hits.
After defeating Conniston, Polo Park hosted Western Pines Middle School in the regional final on Friday, Oct. 24. In that game, Polo Park jumped out to an early 8-0 lead after three innings, and then held on to win 8-5. For Polo Park, eight different players each had a hit during the game, and eight different players scored for the Stallions. Polo Park’s cause was helped by three errors by Western Pines.
“We gave up four runs in the top of the fifth inning, but we held on to win,” Kaliser said. “Kellan Rivera pitched four and two-thirds innings. He gave up five runs, but only one was earned. Mason Gloden got us out of the jam in the fifth inning and pitched the sixth inning to secure the win.”
That win propelled Polo Park into the championship game on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Polo Park’s opponent was Don Estridge High Tech Middle School from Boca Raton. In the game, momentum swung back and forth.
In the top of the third inning, Don Estridge took a 2-0 lead. Polo Park tied the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth. In the top of the fifth, Don Estridge scored two more runs to take a 4-2 lead. In the bottom of the fifth, Polo Park tied the score again at 4-4, courtesy of a two-run homer by Gloden. After six innings of play, the game remained in a 4-4 tie, which sent it to extra innings. In the top of the seventh, Don Estridge scored two unearned runs to lead, 6-4. The Stallions were unable to score in the bottom of the seventh, which gave Don Estridge the championship.
Kaliser was proud of the effort by his team in the championship finale.
“It was really just a great middle school baseball game,” Kaliser said. “Their pitcher, Ari Kolton, was a beast. He pitched all seven innings and threw 107 pitches. His last 10 pitches were as hard as the first 10 pitches.”
Looking back, one of the big keys to the season-long success for Polo Park was the team’s defensive play.
“We have been excellent as a team defensively,” Kaliser said. “Our two standouts are Dylan Vasquez and Austin Strompf. Dylan has been superb behind the plate as the catcher, calling games and throwing out three base stealers this [regular] season. At first base, Austin had 26 putouts and no errors for the entire [regular] season. Overall, we are outstanding, defensively, up the middle. Vasquez is great behind the plate. Parker Humphrey at short and Tyson Santiago at second are as surehanded as they come. And, Braden Buser and Kellan Rivera in the outfield cover a ton of ground.”
While Polo Park didn’t win the school’s fourth county championship, this team will always be one of Kaliser’s favorite squads.
“This really was an outstanding team,” he said. “I couldn’t be prouder of how hard they played all year.”
Other members of the Polo Park Middle School baseball team were Jocum Torres, Asher Herrera, Blake Gelfand, Jacob Espinoza, Juan Suarez, Logan De La Rosa, Nicholas Rolon and Ethan Henn. Humphrey and Buser were co-captains of the team this year.
Polo Park concluded its season with a 12-1 record.
