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Palm Beach 7A-6A baseball first team, second team, honorable mention, coach of the year

adam lichtenstein, south florida sun-sentinel
·4 min read

FIRST TEAM

Tyler Atkins, P, Wellington freshman: Atkins proved to be one of South Florida’s most promising freshmen, going 5-2 with a 0.82 ERA in 42 2/3 innings. He led Palm Beach County with a 0.77 WHIP and walked just nine batters.

Ryan Brown, OF, Park Vista senior: Brown was a key member of the Cobras’ lineup, batting .375 with five extra-base hits and 17 RBIs. The Keiser commit drove in a pair of runs in the state semifinal, but Park Vista ultimately fell to Tampa Plant.

Hector Camacho, P, Palm Beach Central senior: Camacho improved vastly from his junior season, lowering his ERA from 4.36 to 1.13 over 31 inning for the Broncos. He went 2-1 while starting five games and pitching six games in relief.

Matt Davis, CF, Dwyer senior: Davis crushed the ball in his final season with the Panthers, hitting .359 with five home runs and a 1.063 OPS. The Florida State signee had eight steals, as well.

Anthony Espinoza, 1B, Park Vista sophomore: Espinoza was part of a deep Park Vista offense, batting .333 with six extra-base hits (including a home run) and 12 stolen bases. He scored 16 runs and drove in 13.

Parks Fucci, CF, Boca Raton junior: Fucci, a Palm Beach State commit, showed off his blazing speed with a Palm Beach County-best 36 steals. He also hit .435 with a .944 OPS.

Keaton Kangas, IF, Santaluces junior: Kangas had a strong junior year, hitting .400 with a 1.074 OPS. He had one home run and stole 11 bases.

Corey Kling, UTIL, West Boca Raton senior: Kling showed versatility, dominating on the mound while having a strong season at the plate. Kling went 7-0 with a 0.85 ERA while finishing second in Palm Beach County with 72 strikeout. He also hit .345 with a home run and a 1.009 OPS.

Liam Landers, IF, Lake Worth senior: Landers led all large-schools hitters with a .500 batting average, and he had a 1.311 OPS. He had four doubles, four triples and 11 steals.

Brandon Marchese, SS, Royal Palm Beach junior: Marchese, a Palm Beach State commit, led the Wildcats offense, hitting .414 with three home runs. He had a 1.225 OPS.

Jerome Mitchell, OF, Santaluces senior: Mitchell got on base frequently and punished opponents when he did. The senior hit .400 with a 1.101 OPS and stole 34 bases — second-most in Palm Beach County.

Chase Grube, P, Seminole Ridge senior: Grube was an imposing figure to opposing hitters. The 6-5 lefty had a 2.17 ERA and led the county with 83 strikeout in 48 1/3 innings.

Jake Smizik, IF, Spanish River senior: Smizik was one of the toughest players to strike out in South Florida, striking out jut five times in 66 at-bats. Smizik hit .409 with a 1.075 OPS, adding eight stolen bases.

SECOND TEAM

Will Bavaro, IF, Park Vista sophomore

Kris Blanks, P, Dwyer senior

Corey Goldstick, C, Dwyer senior

Zavier Hatfield, OF, Royal Palm Beach junior

Jaxon Inouye, P, Jupiter senior

Wayne Kullman, 1B, Seminole Ridge junior

Jason Lashley, IF, Park Vista senior

Zachary Lebenson, P, Jupiter senior

James Litman, P, West Boca Raton junior

Nick Manning, P, Olympic Heights sophomore

Taj Stark, P, Santaluces junior

Joe Thomas, P, Jupiter senior

Daniel Villafane, SS, Wellington senior

HONORABLE MENTION

Atlantic: Thomas Krolikovski, Myles Wanamaker; Boca Raton: Casey Cleghorn, Brian Parkinson, Zach Stefan; Dwyer: Bryce Jackson, Ben Lubeck, Nick Rivitti, Dawson Thrush; Forest Hill: Aneudy Rodriguez; John I. Leonard: Victor Garcia, Nicholas Hamm, Sandy Montero; Jupiter: Mason Barela, Aiden Chin, Andrew Todd; Lake Worth: Omar Claudio, Sterry Martin III; Olympic Heights: Camilo Castellon; Palm Beach Central: Gain Batalian, Kyle Baxt, Ryan Schulman, David Urrutia; Palm Beach Gardens: Blake Matthews, Jomari Philostin, Colton Schwarz, Lucas Valencia; Park Vista:, Joseph Calise, Chris Giordano, Matthew Lashley; Royal Palm Beach: Jaxon Gelb, Brandon Teitel; Santaluces: Edinson Cantillo, Samir Hurtado, Trevor Malloy, Matthew Martinez; Seminole Ridge: Gavin Kolesar, Nicholas Hatch; Spanish River: Anthony Diaz, Jonathan Guardascione, Davidas Raciunas; Wellington: Blake Anderson, Humberto Caldera, Andrew Lafleur, Felix Quintero; West Boca Raton: Matt Pagan.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Nick Franco, Santaluces: Franco has turned the Chiefs into a consistently solid program with four winning records in the last six full seasons. This season, Santaluces went 15-10-1 and had even better success on the road than at home, going 9-5 on the road.