- November 5, 2024
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It was a tough night on Tuesday for Palm Coast Little League All-Stars teams.
Weeks of hard work and a lot practice was put on display when the Palm Coast Little League Senior All-Stars took the field Tuesday at home against DeBary in the tournament opener.
After Palm Coast took the lead in the first inning, DeBary jumped on top and never fell down, going on to win 9-4.
Palm Coast had the bats working early, jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead just four batters into the game when Brett Cain connected with the first pitch he saw and smacked it right back up the middle to plate a pair of runs.
DeBary responded quickly, though, when the team had its first six batters reach base to begin the second inning. All six eventually came around to score, taking a 6-2 lead off Palm Coast starter Cain.
A pair of errors contributed to the six-run inning, and sloppy defensive play was an issue for Palm Coast most of the game.
“Errors will kill you,” Cain said after the game.
Palm Coast manager Dave Febus said he wants to see his team fix the mental mistakes.
At one point, Cain went on to retire seven straight batters, including four strikeouts during that span, before surrendering a two-out single in the fourth inning that would lead to two more runs scoring.
Cain left the game after five innings, allowing eight runs on eight hits, while issuing one walk to go along with seven strikeouts on 95 pitches.
Josh Febus helped close the gap in the fifth inning by driving a double down the left line, scoring two runs to cut the deficit to 8-4.
After that, the bats went quiet. Palm Coast threatened to score once again in the seventh inning, but was that denied when George Rosado got himself out on a rundown after singling to left. Rosado went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
“I think the mentality has to change.” Febus said. “There are steps that we have to take. (Wednesday) we have another day. “We have to come with something.”
Palm Coast and DeBary will be back at it again Wednesday for the second game in the best-of-three series.
Palm Coast falls to Deltona in pitchers' duel
In a display of pitching prowess, Palm Coast Little League Majors All-Stars lost to Deltona, 2-0, on Tuesday night in a second-round game of the playoffs.
Palm Coast’s Brock Underberg and Deltona’s Caden Penansky matched each other throughout most of the game.
Penansky threw five innings of scoreless baseball, allowing just two hits and one walk to go with nine strikeouts.
Underberg tossed 5.1 innings, giving up just one run on two hits to go with two walks and 11 strikeouts.
Deltona won in walk-off fashion when Jesus Vega chased off Underberg with a one out single. Palm Coast reliever Zach Evans retired Chris Ramos with a popup to short. But Deltona catcher Anthony Perez hit a two-out, two-run homerun off Evans.
Deltona’s Hirsch pitched a scoreless sixth inning to close out the win.
Cameron Quintana and Declyn Mock provided the two hits for Palm Coast.
Palm Coast will continue to the bottom half of the tournament bracket in Eustis on Wednesday.
— Andrew O'Brien contributed to this report.
