Battle for Military Trail: 3 takeaways from Dwyer baseball's win over Palm Beach Gardens

PALM BEACH GARDEN – Two streaks continued in Thursday night's battle for Military Trail.

Dwyer baseball just keeps winning, while Palm Beach Gardens is stuck in a rut of tough-luck losses.

Nick Rovitti added his fifth win in the 9-3 victory, lowering his already-sparkling ERA to under 1.8 with five shutout innings.

And in the process, the Panthers are continuing to build their reputation as one of the teams to beat in Palm Beach County.

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Here are three takeaways from Thursday's Military Trail rivalry game.

1. Rovitti blows by hitters with his favorite pitch

Rovitti was lights-out on Thursday, but it's difficult to blame the Palm Beach Gardens hitters.

After all, it's tough to hit 94 miles per hour fired from the mound.

The Dwyer senior has one of the top fastballs in the county, so it makes sense why he considers it his favorite, most dependable pitch.

"I was struggling a little bit trying to command my pitches, but I was trying to get into a groove. I trained really hard this offseason, and I'm committed to The Citadel right now. I know I can trust my fastball on any count. That's my best pitch. I'm just really working on the deception and the really good looks."

Rovitti's regularly drew late swings on his flame-throwing fastball, but it was also his off-speed pitches that caused confusion in his opposition Thursday night.

Despite a few pitches in the dirt, the change in speed and direction was certainly enough to knock a good lineup off-balance.

"He's definitely coming into his own," Dwyer head coach Jordan Yamamoto said. "It's been 180 degrees from what he used to be. I believe mentally on the mound, I think before, he knew how good he was, but he didn't have the little edge of understanding how to pitch to guys. Now, he's learning that. Now, he's understanding that early outs matter."

His growth is shown in the fact that Rovitti's last two starts were complete games, as well as the focus on his own development within counts on the mound.

2. Gardens maintaining morale despite rough patch

Just a week ago, Palm Beach Gardens players were on top of the world, having completed a miracle comeback against Park Vista in extras.

But since then, it's been a case of the loss-column-blues, having succumbed to close defeats against the likes of Grace Christian Academy, Westminster Academy, and Benjamin.

The saying goes, "when it rains, it pours" -- and so has been the case with Gardens baseball, who are operating without a junior varsity team and battling injuries.

"I still believe in our guys," head coach Matthew Judkins said. "We're a little thin right now. We don't have a junior varsity team, so that's kind of how thin we've gotten as a program. The guys that are here are busting their butts and picking up each other. We had a good start to the year, and that's how we're capable of playing."

It was a rare subpar start on Thursday for Lucas Valencia, who was handed his first loss of the season. Though he didn't give up any hits in the first three innings, free passes and errors turned the scoreboard against him.

But just as Valencia will look to utilize some short-term memory and return to form, so, too, will the Gators endeavor to put this loss behind them in search of some momentum.

"We have experienced some wins," Judkins said. We've been there. It's not luck. We've worked hard to get there. The gauntlet of the season is definitely coming up, but we're battling. We're trying out there, for sure. Until someone sticks a fork in us and says we're done, we've just got to keep playing and keep getting better."

3. Dwyer win streak reaches six as hot play continues

After five games of the 2024 regular season, Dwyer was 2-3.

For Palm Beach County baseball fans accustomed to seeing the Panthers thrive on the diamond, this came as somewhat of a shock.

Of course, context is important: all three of those teams will inevitably compete for respective district and perhaps regional championships, given the caliber of players and staff.

Things seemed much less dire when Dwyer returned to the victory column, and now, sitting on a six-game winning streak, the three losses -- two of which came on walk-offs -- seem a thing of the distant past.

"It's all these boys," Yamamoto said. "They put the work in. The understand the grind. They understand the mentality of what it takes to be winners, of what it takes to be top dogs. Some people may beat us on the field, but no one's going to outwork on at practice and during the game."

That work has paid some serious dividends, highlighted by six wins in a row.

That success is something that Rovitti expects to come from a team he calls the best in the county.

"I think honestly, we're the best team," the senior said. "All around, these are guys have been playing since seven or eight years old, and I really just think we have the strongest unit in this county. And we can take it all the way this year."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Boys baseball: 3 takeaways from Dwyer's win over Palm Beach Gardens