Palm Beach County baseball digest: Wellington's surprise ace, upset of the year and more

Wellington High baseball coach Scott Riddle uncovered a new pitcher halfway through the season – his starting center fielder – and that may have been just the boost the Wolverines needed to turn their season around.

During the team's recent four-game winning streak, senior Russell Wilson took over twice for struggling starters and held the opponents in check, allowing the Wolverines to rally for victories.

"He just started pitching for us regularly last week," Riddle said Tuesday after Wellington's 9-5 win over Santaluces. "He's just been having great bullpens and working hard and taking it seriously. ... He's been a real godsend for us.

"He's just found a way to help the team. He's helping us in the outfield, he's helping us with the bat, and now as a pitcher. That's not where we saw him at the beginning of the season."

Although a loss to Jensen Beach on Friday ended their winning streak, the Wolverines have rebounded from a midseason funk (seven losses in nine games) to even their record at 10-10 and put themselves in position for a playoff berth. Wellington entered last week ranked seventh in Region 3-7A; the top eight teams qualify for the postseason.

That didn't seem possible just a few weeks ago, but the Wolverines started to click coming out of spring break, and then Wilson emerged as a stopper.

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Against Santaluces, Wilson entered in the bottom of the second inning with the score tied 4-4 and two runners on base. He worked out of that jam and gave up only one unearned run over the next 4 2/3 innings, tiring a bit in the seventh and giving way to Danny Goncalves, who got the final out.

But Wilson's favorite moment may have come at the plate. During a three-run sixth inning, he laid down a bases-loaded squeeze bunt to push across the go-ahead run, legging out a hit when no one covered first base.

"The bunt was great," he said, smiling. "It was a squeeze play, so I had to get it down, and then it just ended up being even better. ... That was definitely a highlight of the night."

Wilson had a similar outing the previous week against Dr. Joaquin Garcia. With Wellington trailing 6-3, Riddle turned to him in the fourth inning and he shut out the Bulldogs the rest of the way as the Wolverines came back for a 7-6 win.

His numbers for the season: 13 1/3 innings, 8 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts, 0.00 ERA.

"I love pitching," Wilson said. "It's one of my favorite things about baseball. I didn't really get the opportunity the past couple of seasons because we had a bunch of guys ... but now I'm getting my innings and it's really fun."

The young Wolverines have been having more fun, too. The top five hitters are all underclassmen, led by junior Trevor King (.396). Goncalves, Paul Parent and Jhon Abreu form a solid rotation, and the addition of Wilson has bolstered the bullpen.

Of the four-game winning streak, Riddle said, "They weren't the most beautiful wins. We had to scrap a little bit and we've had some help from the other guys. But when we needed a hit, we've been getting the hit; when we needed to catch a ground ball, we're catching the ground ball; when we needed a strike, we've been getting the strike.

"I don't feel like we're hot. I feel like we can still be a way better team than we are now. I feel there are a lot of teams out there that we can beat that are in front of us."

With five games left in the regular season, Wellington has a chance to finish with a winning record and wrap up that playoff berth.

"We hope to keep it rolling," Wilson said. "It's a great time to be rolling right now."

Upset of the season?

Royal Palm Beach coach Tim Maxwell's phone was blowing up Tuesday night. His colleagues were calling to congratulate him on the Wildcats' stunning 4-1 victory over Jupiter, the county's hottest-hitting team.

"They are a state championship caliber team," Maxwell said of the Warriors, who entered the week as the state's fourth-ranked Class 7A team. "They made us play to their level."

Jupiter, which had scored 44 runs in three victories the previous week, managed only six hits against senior right-hander Brandon Marchese. He was one out away from a shutout when Maxwell had to pull him because he had reached his pitch limit. Jaxon Gelb, who went 3-for-3 with an RBI, came on and allowed a run before getting the final out.

Marchese, who walked three and struck out nine, was "the most dominant player on the field," Maxwell said. He credited pitching coach Sebastian Gonzalez with calling a "great game" and keeping Jupiter's sluggers off-balance.

Royal Palm Beach (9-10) has had its struggles this season, losing seven games by eight or more runs. Maxwell is in his second season of trying to build the program back to the days when future MLB players Triston McKenzie and Jarrod Saltalamacchia played there.

"I told the boys, 'We're going to treat this like a playoff game,'" he said. "We were going to do whatever we had to do to win the game. This is a big win for Royal Palm Beach baseball."

Back in the dugout

Jordan Yamamoto , Dwyer's first-year coach, returned from his three-game exile Tuesday to oversee the Panthers' 3-1 victory over King's Academy.

Yamamoto drew a suspension after being ejected from a game against Palm Beach Central on March 26. In that game, he ran out of the dugout to vehemently dispute a call at second base, admitting afterward that he used profanity. Later that week, after reviewing the umpire's report, the FHSAA handed down its ruling.

Yamamoto was not allowed on the premises for games against Benjamin, Boca Raton and Jupiter. He followed the action from home on the GameChanger app.

Being away from the team "sucked," he said, "but the reality is I can't complain because you know if you mess up, you have to do your time."

Assistant coach Christian Lopes led the Panthers to three victories in Yamamato's absence. Yamamato, a former MLB pitcher, guided them to three more last week, extending their winning streak to seven games. They have won 14 of their last 15, losing only the game in which the coach was ejected.

"The boys kind of made a joke," Yamamoto said. "They said they went 3-0 with the other coach, so I got demoted."

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Week 8 standouts

• Blake Barnes, Glades Day: Pitched a five-inning perfect game, striking out nine, and drove in two runs in a 10-0 win over Moore Haven.
• Chase Ceppo, King's Academy: Pitched a complete-game four-hitter in a 3-1 win over Boca Raton.
• Grant Hugus, Cardinal Newman: Hit a three-run home run off ace Carmani Boozer in a victory over Miami-Dade County power Pace; drove in two runs in a win over Oxbridge Academy.
• Tyler Lichtenberger, West Boca Raton: Went 2-for-3 with a double, home run and three RBIs in a 7-6 victory over Benjamin; pitched two-thirds of an inning for the win.
• Shawn Lopez, John I. Leonard: Went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs, including the walk-off hit, in a 7-6 win over Lake Worth; also pitched four innings and struck out seven.
• Brandon Marchese, Royal Palm Beach: Pitched 6 2/3 innings, striking out nine, in a 4-1 win over Jupiter.
• Taro Pustilnik, Park Vista: Pitched six strong innings, striking out four, in a 7-1 win over Suncoast; went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two stolen bases in a victory over Seminole Ridge.
• Nick Rovitti, Dwyer: Pitched a complete-game no-hitter, walking two and striking out 12, in a 3-0 victory over Boca Raton.
• Dawson Thrush, Dwyer: Pitched six strong innings with eight strikeouts in a 3-1 win over King's Academy; for the week, went 5-for-11, scored four runs and drove in three.
• Slade Wayne, Palm Beach Central: Went 5-for-10, scored three runs and drove in four as the Broncos went 2-1.
• Cody Wexler, Somerset Academy-Canyons: Went 5-for-10, scored four runs and drove in four as the Cougars went 2-1.

Week 9 top games

Monday

West Boca Raton (12-8) at Spanish River (10-9), 6:30 p.m.: Crosstown rivals face off.

Tuesday

Cardinal Newman (17-3-1) at American Heritage-Plantation (12-9), 7 p.m.: Crusaders test 13-game winning streak against defending state Class 5A champions.

Thursday

Benjamin (11-7) at King's Academy (9-9), 6:30 p.m.: District 11-3A foes meet for only time this season.

Boca Raton (13-7) at Cardinal Newman (17-3-1), 6:30 p.m.: Bobcats have lost five of seven since starting 11-1.

Rick Robb's Top 10

• 1. Cardinal Newman (17-3-1)
• 2. Dwyer (16-4)
• 3. Jupiter (14-6)
• 4. Suncoast (15-5)
• 5. West Boca Raton (12-8)
• 6. Benjamin (11-7)
• 7. Boca Raton (13-7)
• 8. Park Vista (11-10)
• 9. Palm Beach Central (11-9)
• 10. Wellington (10-10)

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County baseball digest: Wellington's surprise ace, upset of the year and more