Broncos win third straight Grand Slam

Published April 7th, 2008

By Mario Sarmento
SPORTS EDITOR

For while it seemed Palm Beach Central’s two-year run as National Grand Slam champion was in jeopardy. The Broncos were locked in a 1-1 tie with tournament co-host West Boca Raton High, and had been held to just two hits by Bulls starter Dusty Albanese.

But in a disastrous fifth inning that saw the Bulls defense commit three errors, Palm Beach Central scored five times to win a third straight title, 9-2 at FAU Thursday night.

“It’s special because this is a new group of kids,” Broncos coach Scott Benedict said. “Having lost 14 seniors last year, this was a case of something new for them. So hopefully, we can build on it.”

Fittingly, Broncos leadoff hitter Devon Travis started the uprising with one out in the fifth by doubling to left. He went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a double to left from Alex Bello.

Travis went 2-for-4 on the day, reaching three times with an infield hit, an intentional walk and a double. He scored twice, including the Broncos’ first run in the opening inning when he moved to third on a wild pitch following his infield single and scored on a ground out by Alex Hernandez.

For his efforts in the game and the tournament, Travis was named the Best Offensive Player.

“He’s our heart and soul, that’s the type of player he is,” Benedict said.

“Those are the kinds of things he does. He leads by example.”

After Travis scored, his teammates naturally followed, helped by West Boca’s carelessness with the baseball.

Bello scored on a throwing error by Bulls catcher Rick Versace that allowed Hernandez to reach. Then Ryan Roberson, the Most Outstanding Player of the event, singled to right center to make it 4-1, taking second on another throwing error and going to third on a wild pitch. Brandon Cox drew a walk to load the bases, and Jonathan Bostley reached on a dropped ball in right to plate the last two runs of the inning.

Marcus Beasley’s RBI single scored courtesy runner Eric Schaffer and cut the lead to 6-2 in the sixth, but the Broncos (11-6) came back with three in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach.

West Boca (15-5) actually outhit Palm Beach Central 9-7, but the Bulls were unable to get the big hit to keep an inning alive.

Nowhere was this more apparent than in the bottom of the fourth. With the game still tied 1-1, Rick Conaway doubled to left, then Versace was hit by a pitch to put two on with no one out.

After the next two batters were retired, Beasley drew a walk to load the bases. But Cody Emerson flied out to center to end the threat, and the Broncos took control in the next inning.

“I thought for five innings we played great and had our opportunities, that absolutely would have changed the outcome if we got clutch hits,” Bulls coach Brian Joros said. “We just didn’t get the ones that matters.”

Broncos senior Zach Todd (3-0) pitched five innings and allowed one earned run on six hits while striking out three.

Notes:

Bulls pitcher Brian Busch was named “Mr. Baseball 2008” at the end of the game by the publishers of the Florida Baseball/Softball Magazine. He was presented with a plaque with his likeness on the cover of the next issue ... Benedict was also honored with a plaque for picking up the 400th win of his career in the first game of the tournament ... Versace and Conaway made the All-Tournament Team for West Boca, as did Bello and pitcher Jake Meiers for Palm Beach Central ... Michael Kelly, who pitched two shutout innings of relief in the extra-inning win against Wellington Wednesday, was named Most Outstanding Pitcher ... West Boca’s Beasley was named Best Defensive Player, and he made the best play of the final with a backhanded stop and throw-out of Hernandez in the seventh. “He made a lot of great plays like that. He’s become the captain of the infield,” Joros said.