With the regular season on the baseball diamond just days away, the Marathon Dolphins and Key West Conchs elected to play preseason games to test their skills.
Key West, known for scheduling the most challenging opponents they can find, did not break tradition last week, playing a series of two games against 7A Jupiter, ranked No. 25 in the entire state. Given the results of the games, the Conchs’ ranking of 127 by the FHSAA is likely underrated.
On Feb. 7, Jupiter got off to an early lead, scoring three runs in the second inning. The Conchs held their composure and bided their time until inning four when they made a comeback, evening the score. A disastrous fifth inning allowed the Warriors to open the flood gates and pour on five runs, a seemingly impossible lead so late in the game, but the ever-focused Conchs battled back, scoring three in the sixth. Trailing by two in the final inning, Key West managed to put one man on base, but a fresh Warrior pitcher sealed their fate, ending the game 8-6 in favor of Jupiter. Sam Holland singled and doubled in the loss while Roman Garcia doubled. Auggy Davila, Caden Pichardo and Kade Maltz each singled for Key West. Jackie Niles batted two in off a hard groundout. Vinnie Moline got the start at pitcher in a game in which four Conchs got work on the mound.
The following night, the Conchs gave Christian Koppal the start, the first of five Conchs to see action on the mound. The Warriors scored two in inning one off a hit, an error and a wild pitch, but Koppal was unrattled and kept Jupiter scoreless for the final two of his three innings. Key West managed to get on base but left men stranded in innings one through three, then took advantage of a fatigued Warrior pitcher in inning four. Three singles, a hit batter and a walk-a-thon later, Key West was up 7-2.
In inning five, it was Jupiter’s turn to pour on runs. Four hits, three walks and a sacrifice fly tied things up before the Conchs had a chance to bat. Key West added a pair of runs, which Jupiter immediately negated with two of their own in inning six. Key West loaded first and second but couldn’t get their base runners home, putting the teams at nine apiece in inning seven. A Jupiter double and hit batter gave the Warriors hope, but they too left their scoring potential stranded. In the bottom of the seventh, freshman Kade Maltz stepped into the batter’s box and watched one strike go by. He sent pitch number two on a line-drive ride to center field, tripling and eventually scoring the winning run off a Jupiter error. Auggy Davila was credited with the win for Key West after a scoreless inning on the mound. Holland and Maltz had a pair of hits each while Pichardo, Niles and Xavier Perez had one each.
Marathon hosted the Knights of Highlands Christian for their preseason rival. The Knights traveled from Pompano Beach and stayed the night, playing the Fins Feb. 7 and then again the following morning. In game number one, Marathon got on the board first with a first-inning single from Jack Chapman, who reached home via a Gavin Leal double. The Knights scored one in the top of the second to tie things up, but that would be the only score they saw for the remainder of the shortened game. Marathon scored one of their own in inning two and held the one-run lead until inning four when the Fins found a chink in the Knights’ armor.
A pair of hit batters made seventh-grader Reef Rella’s monster triple all the worse for Highlands, and it didn’t get better for them after that. A walked batter plus Rella put two men on when Dylan Williams hit a hard ground ball to the corner of right field, scoring three on an inside-the-park homer. Three more walks and a pair of doubles, a second from Leal and one from Jason Stubblefield, gave Marathon 10 runs. Highlands Christian never recovered, giving the Dolphins the win in six and a half innings. Senior Mason Thornton got the start pitching. Thornton lasted three innings, giving up one run and striking out four. Leal and Stubblefield had two hits each, with one hit apiece coming from Leo Mendez, Chapman, Williams and Rella.
The following night was more of the same for both teams. This time, Gabe Leal got the start. Leal spanned three innings, striking out and walking two each, and giving up no runs and no hits for the win. The Fins scored two in the first and one in the third, then enjoyed a 10-run fourth, which included two hit batters, four walks, five hits, an error and a fielder’s choice, to beat the Knights 13-2. Leal had a pair of singles. Chapman and Thornton each singled with four RBIs apiece. Stubblefield and Cameron Globe also registered hits in the mercy-rule win.
Coral Shores is saving their debut for the regular season, which officially began Feb. 10 and runs through Apr. 11 with districts beginning Apr. 14. Key West competes in the 4A classification, while Coral Shores is 2A. Marathon baseball, like many of their athletic teams, is now classified as 1A Rural.
