Cardinals open season with victory over Jupiter

The Palm Beach Cardinals opened up the 2019 campaign with a 4-1 victory over former 1st round draft pick Trevor Rogers and the Jupiter Hammerheads.
Patience was key against as the Cardinals drew three walks and recorded three hits and two runs off of Rogers in his 3 ⅔ innings on the mound.
Luken Baker got the Beach Birds on the board for the first time this season with an RBI single in the third.
In the following inning, Zach Kirtley's double scored Nick Plummer and gave Palm Beach a 2-0 lead.
That margin would be more than enough for the Cardinals' pitching staff led by starer Johan Oviedo. The Havana, Cuba native tossed 4 ⅓ scoreless innings allowing just one baserunner, the final batter he faced, and struck out six.
Ronnie Williams came in relief and earned his first victory of the season after ⅔ scoreless innings.
Jupiter got on the board against Luke Gregerson who was able to minimize the damage allowing just one run to score in his inning pitched.
Merandy Gonzalez threw a scoreless frame with Junior Fernandez tossing two scoreless innings to end the game and earned his first save of the season in the process.
In all, the pitching staff struck out nine Hammerheads and allowed just one walk.
In the seventh, Palm Beach took a 3-1 lead on a Yariel Gonzalez grounder that resulted in two errors.
In the next inning, Justin Toerner's sacrifice fly scored the Cardinals' fourth run of the game in Nick Plummer. Toerner had a multi-hit game and reached base all four times he came to the plate.
Palm Beach drew seven walks by five different players.
The teams will play once again on Friday night at 6:30 PM. Tickets and more information can be found at Rogerdeanchevroletstadium.com.