Alabama champs compete in Palm Beach
WELLINGTON — Baseball fans perusing local high school schedules this week may have noticed an unfamiliar opponent.
The Vestavia Hills Rebels have made the 11-hour haul from Central Alabama to South Florida to spend spring break facing the best talent on the diamond that Palm Beach County has to offer.
Why?
“Two reasons,” Vestavia coach Jamie Harris said. “Good weather and good baseball.”
“In Birmingham, we might be 65 one day and it might be 35 the next, so we know we’re gonna get good weather down here and we’re gonna get really good teams, and we’re not concerned with whether we win or we lose.”
Last spring, the Rebels went 34-11 to win Alabama’s 7A state championship. That championship-touting squad of 15 seniors was conditioned by a 2022 run to the state semifinals, which happened to include Vestavia’s last tour of the Sunshine State. The Rebels come to visit the area every other year. 8:25 p.m. Formula 1: Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Practice 3, from Jeddah ESPN2 11:55 p.m. Formula 1: Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, qualifying ESPN2
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“It kind of propelled us two years ago,” Harris said. “Now we’ve lost all those guys ... so we’re just trying to relearn a little bit and coming down here is really good.”
Now, the team has lost “80%” of its pitching and returns just one starter in catcher John Paul Head, a University of Alabama-Birmingham commit.
Alabama state champ baseball team spending spring break in Palm Beach County
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Palm Beach Central hosted Vestavia for the first appearance of the squad’s stay, which will include appearances at Wellington on Friday (6 p.m.) and Palm Beach Gardens on Saturday (10 a.m.).
“What I saw was good discipline,” Harris said after claiming the Broncos’ home opener on Tuesday. “Hitting is a funny thing. It’s contagious, right?”
Hot bats accounting for 15 hits and 16 runs were too much for a Central squad that committed five errors and cycled through seven arms on the mound, breaking even at 3-3 this spring with the loss.
It didn’t help that the Broncos are “snake-bit” at the moment, per Central coach Tony Gullo.
“We have had players out with COVID, mono, strep. One of our top pitchers has tendinitis. Today was our first game back for our starting catcher due to a leg injury. Our top hitter has a severely sprained ankle and couldn’t even attend today’s game because of the swelling,” Gullo said.
He’s “fairly certain” it’s the “worst health situation” he’s seen in nearly four decades of coaching, including the past eight years at Central.
Leftfielder Caden Taylor led his crew with three runs on three hits and two 4:30 p.m. Big Ten Tournament, semifinal, TBA BIG10 7 p.m. SEC Tournament, semifinal, TBA ESPNU 7 p.m. Big East Tournament: TBA vs. Creighton, quarterfinal FS2
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RBIs. First baseman Miles Pluge led the Rebels in RBIs with three on two hits. In five innings, pitcher Collin Jones allowed PBC five hits and four runs, throwing 61 strikes out of 91 pitches. Senior Will Mencho battled for the Broncos from center field and at the plate, contributing three “rockets” for a double, a single and a lineout to center.
However, the hitting virus and victory were brief for Vestavia.
At about 6:30 p.m., the Rebels left their three-hour game in Wellington to travel to Lake Worth for a 7 p.m. first pitch against 2023 7A state semifinalist Park Vista.
There, Vestavia met senior Ethan Mattison on the mound, and the FGCU lefty pitcher commit brought the pain.
Compared with six strikeouts from almost any available option from Central, Mattison registered 11 strikeouts in five innings, allowing just three hits. The errorless Cobras (4-3) won 8-0, propelled by two hits each from Joe Calise, Will Bavaro and Tristan Pokable. Calise also split a team-high two runs with Jaiden Phan, knocking the Rebels down to 4-5 on the season before a Wednesday matchup at Jupiter (4-2).
esmarr@gannett.com
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