Cypress Lakes Blasts Past Cape Coral In 6A-11 Battle

District 6A-11 is loaded with seven teams and all but one of them are within striking distance of each other in the district standings. That made Tuesday night’s matchup between the Cypress Lakes Panthers and the Cape Coral Seahawks all the more intriguing. While the Seahawks held the advantage with a 10-5 overall record compared to the Panthers’ 7-6 mark, the Panthers were a half-game ahead of the Seahawks in the district race.

For six innings, it looked as though Cape Coral would make up that ground against their rivals, but Cypress Lake exploded for five runs in the seventh inning to come out on top by a final of 8-5.

With three RBIs on three hits in four at-bats, Janmikell Bastardo was a beast at the plate for the visiting Panthers all night long, but never more so than his final at-bat when he blasted a line-drive into center field for a two-run triple that tied the game at five. Preston Moore drove Bastardo home with a single two at-bats later and then Robert Wegielnik finished a 2-for-4 night with the Panthers’ second two-run triple of the inning, giving them a three-run cushion going into the final half frame.

The big inning marked the first time Cypress Lakes held a lead since the third inning. They jumped out to a 2-0 edge in the first, thanks in part to an RBI single by Bastardo, and went ahead 3-1 in the second when Wegielnik scored on a base hit to center field by Josh Ashby.

From there, the Seahawks took control of the game. A two-run double by Tre Waltz and a run-scoring single by Spencer Roach knotted it up at four in the third frame. An inning later, courtesy runner P.J. Carse scored on a single by Matt McDade to give Cape Coral their first lead of the game, which they held until the fateful seventh.

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