Park Vista baseball sweeps Jupiter to reach regional finals

For more than two weeks, Park Vista High's baseball team rode the right arm of pitcher Cody Wexler . Wexler threw three consecutive complete games — giving up a total of one run — as the Cobras won the district championship game against Boca Raton, the regional quarterfinal against Tohopekaliga and the first game of the regional semifinal series against Jupiter. Entering the second game of the best-of-three series against Jupiter on Saturday, May 2, no other Park Vista pitcher had taken the mound since April 14.

But the Cobras proved they can win without their inspirational leader , getting key contributions from two relief pitchers and most of the lineup in a hard-fought 9-6 victory over the Warriors. By sweeping the series, second-seeded Park Vista (20-5) advances to the Region 3-7A finals against top-seeded Vero Beach (22-4). The best-of-three series begins Friday, May 8, in Vero Beach, with the winner advancing to the state tournament in Fort Myers.

"All we do in practice is compete," said Cobras shortstop Blake Bagwell, one of the standouts in Saturday's victory. "We battle, we challenge each other. Early in the season, we dealt with a bunch of adversity, but we have great leaders.

... A lot of guys really stepped up. " In Game 2 against Jupiter, Park Vista dealt with adversity right from the start.