This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Panthers Sweep Series Against Hill Rival

The Panthers baseball team beat Palos Verdes 5-4 on Friday.

Palos Verdes Peninsula's baseball team had the right man for the job Friday in a Bay League game against visiting Palos Verdes.

Senior pitcher Sammy Moore went the distance, striking out four to give the Panthers a 5-4 win and a series sweep in a battle for Hill supremacy.

"Today, Moore was better," Peninsula Coach Dennis Gonsalves said. "This is big for us, I can’t recall the last time we swept them. We knew going into this game that they were going to give us everything to avoid the sweep."

The Sea Kings trailed 5-3 going into the final inning and looked like they would go away quietly making two quick outs but the next batter, senior Chris Markulis, hit a full-count fastball over the left field wall.

Palos Verdes (12-6, 0-2) then got the next two batters aboard and Gonsalves had to decide on whether to leave Moore in or go to his bullpen for the save.

“I thought about it pretty hard but I decided that he was the best guy for the job,” Gonsalves said. “And he proved me right, he just did a heck of a job battling out there all day.”

The next batter, Sea King junior Jeremy Barth, hit a ball that looked like it could have been trouble for the Panthers but center fielder Luke Streeter chased the ball down at the warning track to end the ballgame.

“We have a short fence and the wind was blowing out but we play here every day so I knew he had it,” Moore said. “Luke covers so much ground out there and as a pitcher, you love to have a guy out there like that.”

The Sea Kings got on Moore early, scoring a run in the first inning after second baseman, senior Bobby Stahel hit a single and then stole second and third before scoring on a sacrifice fly ball by Markulis.

Stahel, who will be playing baseball next year for the USC Trojans, was everywhere—going three for four with two singles, a triple, one run batted in while scoring a run for the Sea Kings.

“I thought we kind of gave them this game,” Stahel said. “We made some mistakes that against this team you can’t make if you want to be able to win.”

It was a short-lived lead because Peninsula’s (11-4-1, 2-0) first two batters strung together consecutive singles in the bottom of the first, setting the stage for cleanup hitter, senior Teddy Dilts, who belted a waist-high fastball over the left field wall to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead they would never relinquish.

“Beating them is very special to me,” Dilts said. “I went there my first two years and then transferred last season and had to sit out. So I have been dreaming of this game for awhile.”

Palos Verdes entered the week ranked No. 10 in the CIF Division 2 while Peninsula is unranked.

“This is one that I am going to enjoy for awhile,” Gonsalves said. “Every Bay League game has meaning because of the depth of the league, but to sweep your first series against your biggest rival is very special.”

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?