For more than two weeks, Park Vista High’s baseball team rode the right arm of pitcher Cody Wexler.
Wexler threw three consecutive complete games — giving up a total of one run — as the Cobras won the district championship game against Boca Raton, the regional quarterfinal against Tohopekaliga and the first game of the regional semifinal series against Jupiter.
Entering the second game of the best-of-three series against Jupiter on Saturday, May 2, no other Park Vista pitcher had taken the mound since April 14. But the Cobras proved they can win without their inspirational leader, getting key contributions from two relief pitchers and most of the lineup in a hard-fought 9-6 victory over the Warriors.
By sweeping the series, second-seeded Park Vista (20-5) advances to the Region 3-7A finals against top-seeded Vero Beach (22-4). The best-of-three series begins Friday, May 8, in Vero Beach, with the winner advancing to the state tournament in Fort Myers.
“All we do in practice is compete,” said Cobras shortstop Blake Bagwell, one of the standouts in Saturday’s victory. “We battle, we challenge each other. Early in the season, we dealt with a bunch of adversity, but we have great leaders. … A lot of guys really stepped up.”
In Game 2 against Jupiter, Park Vista dealt with adversity right from the start. Senior right-hander Josh Friedlander, who hadn’t pitched in nearly a month, faced only five batters in the first inning. He walked two, hit a batter, threw two wild pitches and was charged with four runs.
Faced with an early pitching change and knowing that he might have to cover a doubleheader, coach Larry Greenstein brought in seldom-used left-hander Adam Pollack. He held the Warriors in check for three innings, allowing the Cobras to rally for three runs in the fourth and two in the fifth to take a 7-4 lead.
After Pollack gave up three consecutive hits to open the fifth inning, trimming the lead to 7-6, Greenstein turned to senior right-hander Aidan Hock, the staff ace last season. Hock’s role has been reduced this year due to injuries and Wexler’s emergence, but Greenstein didn’t hesitate to bring him in with the game on the line.
“My heart was racing,” Hock said. “I knew I needed to go in there and throw strikes and I knew I could trust my defense. … I just tried to keep our team in the game.”
With the tying run on second, Hock retired three straight batters, the last on a brilliant defensive play by Bagwell, who made a diving stop on a grounder up the middle. Hock pitched three scoreless innings for a hard-earned save.
“He didn’t have a lot of innings (this season), but it just goes to show, you work on your craft, trust your teammates, trust your coaches, and when your opportunity comes knocking, answer the door,” Greenstein said. “And he did that.”
The Cobras gained some breathing room with two runs in the top of the seventh — they were the visiting team on the scoreboard — with the aid of two errors, a passed ball and a wild pitch. That set the stage for a bizarre bottom of the inning.
Hock retired Colby Smith on a grounder, but when Smith appeared to make contact with first baseman Owen Dever, he drew a warning from the umpire. That triggered a heated response from a Jupiter assistant coach, who pushed the umpire during the argument and was ejected. The enraged coach continued arguing and had to be escorted off the field by police.
With emotions already running high after a Jupiter fan had been ejected earlier in the game, the umpires needed more than 10 minutes to restore order. Hock tried to stay loose during the long break, but he hit the next batter he faced, Dom DeMarzo. Hock then retired the last two batters to close out the win.
The coaches decided to forgo the traditional handshake line, sending their players to opposite ends of the field for postgame talks. Jupiter coach Joe Giummule walked over to left field to congratulate the Park Vista players and wish them well.
Bagwell and center fielder Caleb Smith were the standouts in a Cobras lineup that featured RBIs from seven different players. Bagwell reached base five times (two hits, three walks), stole a base, scored two runs and drove in a run. Smith reached base four times (two hits, two walks), scored three runs and drove in a run.
“Blake’s that kid,” Greenstein said. “He’s all over the field, getting dirty, diving. He left it all out on the field.”
The Warriors (18-11), who beat the Cobras in the regional finals last season, saw a disappointing season come to an abrupt end.
“We got outcoached and we got outplayed,” Giummule said. “It’s as simple as that. We didn’t play very good baseball today and despite that, we still had a chance to win. We just didn’t get it done.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Park Vista baseball sweeps Jupiter to reach regional finals
Reporting by Rick Robb, Special to The Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
