Austin Fawley hit a grand slam home run and Javi Sato added a two-run shot as Park Vista defeated Osceola, 8-4, in a Class 7A regional quarterfinal playoff game Tuesday.
The Kowboys season ends at 21-6. The Cobras (22-5) play Palm Beach Central on Friday.
Osceola got off to a great start as Isaiah Jean-Baptiste opened the bottom of the first with a walk and went to third on an errant pickoff attempt. Nick Palmi would drive him in with a bunt single and later score on Blake Birchler’s double to center as the Kowboys opened a 2-0 lead.
But things would go sour for the Kowboys in the next two innings. Peyton Samuels started a five-run rally in the second with a leadoff double. One-out later, Ryan Brown delivered an RBI single and Yorki Perez drew a walk to chase Kowboys starter Carlos Negron from the game. Relief pitcher Antonio Melendez retired Jason Lashley on a pop-up but Trent MacDoughal singled on a 2-2 pitch to load the bases. Fawley would then hit a fly ball to right center and watch as a strong wind blowing out barely pushed the ball over the fence for a grand slam and a 5-2 lead. Soto’s long home run to left field upped the lead to 7-2.
The Kowboys put runners in scoring position in three of the first four innings but Cobras pitcher Ethan Mattison recorded nine strikeouts in the first four innings to consistency pitch out of trouble.
Osceola attempted to get back in the game in the fifth. Palmi would reach on an error and one out later, Danny Ramirez and Edwin Mendez delivered back-to-back singles to make it a 7-3 game. Ramirez would then score on a wild pitch and Chris Palmi walked as Mattison was pulled from the game.
But with runners on second and third, relief pitcher Jacob Escro would strike out Jason Ramos to end the threat.
Osceola’s final threat came in the sixth when Luis Nunez and Jean-Baptiste lead off the inning with back-to-back singles, but Escro would record back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.
“I am really proud of the way this team fought back tonight,” Osceola coach Scott Birchler said. “When they hit that second home run to go up by five a lot of teams would have just quit, but this team battled the whole game. The difference tonight was they got those big hits when they had to have them and we simply didn’t get those when we needed them”
Coach Birchler said he would miss coaching this particular team, which graduates 10 seniors.
“We had a great group of leaders this season and they were a lot of fun to coach. Regardless of the score, they fought and battled hard every night, won 20 games and won a district title. They set a great example for the underclassmen coming back next season.”
