- April 25, 2024
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Seniors top DeBary in extra innings
After losing at home on Tuesday night, the Palm Coast Senior All-Stars were facing elimination on the road Wednesday night, needing a win to stay alive in the tournament.
Thanks to some timely late-inning hits and clutch pitching, Palm Coast was able to walk out of Debary with a 4-3 win in extra-innings to force Game 3 on Thursday night, in DeBary.
“They played with some urgency today knowing that they needed a win,” manager Dave Febus said after the game.
Palm Coast fell behind in the second inning after starting pitcher Josh Febus issued a leadoff walk that eventually came around to score.
DeBary made the best of several scoring chances, putting the leadoff hitter on base in the second, fourth and sixth innings.
The turning point in the game came in the sixth inning when Palm Coast had two runners on and two outs, trailing 2-0.
Danny Rodriguez crushed an 0-2 fastball beyond then left field fence to give Palm Coast a 3-2 lead.
But Debary was quick to score in the bottom half of the inning, tying the game on an RBI groundout off Febus, who left in the seventh after 6.2 innings pitched. He allowed three runs on seven hits, while walking one and striking out five.
“I had my curveball working for me.” Josh Febus said. “I did a good job at keeping them off-balance, and I had my fastball with me today.”
In extra-innings, Palm Coast put together a rally after George Rosado singled then advanced to second on a dropped third strike. Brett Cain followed with a blooper to right field that gave Rosado just enough time to score and give Palm Coast the lead.
Needing three outs to end it, Eddie King, who entered for Febus in the seventh, used his sweeping slider to strike out two of the final three batters to end the game.
Palm Coast will travel back to Debary 7 p.m. Thursday for a game that decides who moves on to the next round.
Majors rebound, mercy-rule Eustis
Facing elimination, the Palm Coast Majors All-Stars overcame inclement weather and last-minute travel changes to top Eustis, 24-6, on Wednesday, behind timely hitting and Cameron Quintana’s two home runs.
The game was originally scheduled to be played in Eustis, but it was moved to DeBary because of rain. The first pitch wasn’t thrown until about 8:30 p.m.
Palm Coast jumped ahead of Eustis early after Charlie Alfano walked and later scored on Cameron Becker’s RBI single.
Eustis responded in the bottom of the inning when its leadoff hitter Ruben Chappelle launched a homer on the fourth pitch of the game by Palm Coast starter Zach Evans. Eustis tacked on two more runs.
Palm Coast then displayed timely hitting, and the flood gates swung open, as the team batted around three straight innings to score 23 more runs.
The offense was led by Zach Evans (3-for-5 with a triple and 5 RBIs 3) and Alfano (3-for-3 with two walks, a double and two RIBs).
Quintana drove in six runs with his two home runs.
Alfano was the winning pitcher in relief, giving up one earned run on two hits to go with five strikeouts over two innings. Jason Guilbe closed out the final 1.1 innings.
Palm Coast plays on Thursday against the winner of the South Putnam/DeLand.
— Andrew O’Brien contributed to this report.
