Chargers punch Plant early, Hicks delivers CG gem
Strawberry Crest senior Zalen Hicks is fired up coming off the mound in his first regular-season start. Hicks, who transferred from Armwood this year, pitched a complete-game, allowed no earned runs, gave up just four hits & two walks, and had four strikeouts.
By Jarrett Guthrie, Editor
DOVER – The message sent from the Strawberry Crest offense on Monday night to its fanbase was pretty clear – don’t show up late.
After Chargers senior starting pitcher Zalen Hicks worked around a pair of first inning Plant base runners, Crest senior Reuben Vasquez pounced on the first pitch he saw in the home-half lining a ball to the gap in left-center and racing around the bases for a triple. On the very next pitch, Vasquez motored home as Toby Highsmith sent a productive ground ball to the right side of the diamond to drive in the first run. Ten total pitches in and Strawberry Crest had built up three runs and all it would need as the Chargers sent Plant home with a 4-2 defeat.
Josh Cespedes scores in the first.
Nico Cappucci followed up a Josh Cespedes single by finding the gap in right-center for an RBI triple of his own. The senior credited his fellow senior and leadoff hitter with setting the tone for the rest of the offense to follow.
“That was clutch. That is what he does,” Cappucci said of Vasquez. “He always gets us going as a leadoff batter, he’s electric, he gets us all up screaming and we are ready to punch them in the face – next batter.”
Chargers senior leadoff hitter Reuben Vasquez lets the home dugout hear it after sending the first pitch he saw into the left-center gap.
Click here to view our photos from this game, and check out our lower photo prices for the 2026 season!
The pugilistic analogies were a common theme in the postgame.
“They came out and punched us in the mouth and you’ve got to punch back,” Plant head coach Dennis Braun said. “I thought we did a decent job of that. But they punched again and we weren’t able to match it.
“It’s the first game … I told these guys, ‘we have a tough two weeks ahead of us and we could be 0-5 or we could be 5-0 and it ain’t gonna matter. If you’re 20-5 at the end, that’s all that matters.’”
Cespedes, a Doral Academy transfer who was 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored in the win, echoed Cappucci’s sentiment about the standard set to start the game.
“Reuben started us off, brought the energy up and got us hyped,” Cespedes said. “Then Toby immediately brought him in, so I saw a few pitches from their pitcher and saw he was throwing a lot toward the outside. I just waited for an outside fastball, got it and sent it down the third base line and the inning just kept going.”
Plant SP Nick Townley pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowed four runs on eight hits and struck out three.
Yusvanny Parra rounded out the Strawberry Crest (2-0) scoring in the first by sending a productive out to the right side for an RBI.
“I felt good and then our team gave me three runs,” Hicks said. “Our pitching coach always says that our staff is good enough that if our offense gives us three runs, that should be good enough to get a win.”
“Good enough” doesn’t cover it when it came to Hicks’ performance on Wednesday. The Florida A&M commit steadily picked away on the edges with his fastball, and found his feel for his off-speed stuff as the game progressed.
“I definitely had a little more feel for it (as the game went on),” he said. “(The Panthers) have some good lefties (in the lineup), so looking away worked the best against them. I just stuck to that for the rest of the game.”
His adjustments were noticeable to the other dugout and Panthers veteran head coach.
“I thought he threw well and spotted his fastball up when he needed to,” Braun said of Hicks. “I don’t think we did a good job adjusting to that outside fastball, but then he started to mix in his other stuff in later and we weren’t able to take advantage of it early.”
Plant’s Desan DeCamp helps the umpire out, correctly calling himself “safe” after a leadoff double in the second.
Plant (0-1) was able to scratch one back in the second after Desan DeCamp sent the first pitch he saw through the left side and slid in safely at second base under the throw. A misplayed fly ball in left allowed a run, followed by the second and final walk issued by Hicks in his complete-game effort, but the damage was mitigated when Cappucci fielded a ball, stepped on second and threw to first to finish a double play.
From there Hicks cruised, retiring the next 11 he faced before Wyatt Patterson collected his second single of the game and eventually scored thanks to a passed ball and then a wild pitch.
Josh Cespedes doubled to center in the fifth. He was 2-for-2 with a walk and scored twice.
The Chargers added an insurance run in the fifth as Cespedes doubled, Cappucci was intentionally walked, which set up Parra for a single and his second RBI of the night.
Yusvanny Parra watches his line drive head into center, driving in his second run of the game.
Another error and a hit batter added a little excitement to Hicks’ seventh inning, but he got a pop fly to center to finish off the game, allowing two unearned on just four hits and finishing with four strikeouts.
Strawberry Crest’s Zalen Hicks
On Thursday, Strawberry Crest wraps a three-game first week with a visit to King, while Plant will host Robinson .
⚾
#14 Strawberry Crest 4
#3 Plant 2
P 000|001|0 – |2|4|0
S 300|010|x – |4|8|2
W – Hicks (1-0); L – Townley (0-1)
2B – DeCamp (P); Cespedes (S); 3B – Vasquez, Cappucci (S). Records – P (0-1); S (2-0).
Plant reliever Truman Mayer pitched 1 1/3 inning, issuing two walks and struck out one.
⚾
Wyatt Patterson had two hits for the Panthers and scored a run.
⚾
Strawberry Crest 3B Bubba Blount makes a catch in foul territory in the first inning.
⚾
Chargers senior Toby Highsmith turns in time to see Reuben Vasquez cross the plate for the game’s first run.
⚾
Tripp House singles in the fourth.
