CBS4's Petrillo, Sedano Horse Around In West Palm

WEST PALM BEACH (CBS4) - As a run up to this weekend's AMG Miami Beach Polo World Cup matches, several South Florida reporters who have never played polo before got together over the weekend for an exhibition match with some of the pros.

Well, not all the stations were there.

"I want to say two teams pulled out of this tournament, that's right, we want it to be known that Channel 10 and Channel 6 'wussed' out," said Louis Aguirre from WSVN Channel 7.

On Saturday, Aguirre and reporter Blake Berman went to head to head with CBS4's Lisa Petrillo and web producer Kelly Price-Sedano from CBSMiami.com. Each team also had a professional player as a teammate to keep things moving along.

After being given some brief instructions, Aguirre and Petrillo summed up what they had to do in a nutshell.

"The idea Lisa is to stay on the horse and to make contact with your mallet," said Aguirre.

"And not with your head," chimed in Petrillo.

"Exactly," said Agirre.

The teams then mounted their sturdy steeds.  Petrillo, who was put on "Chino", was instructed to run off some of her mount's pent up energy while Price-Sedano and Berman's horses seemed to enjoy a good walk.

At the start of the match the ball was tossed and the intrepid reporters quickly learned that the object of the game – to hit the ball with a very heavy mallet in order to score – was a lot harder than it looked.

They swung and missed more than once until finally Petrillo, through shear will, determination and a lot of luck, scored.

"That was not easy," huffed Petrillo.

The teams were playing a seven minute match, known as a chucker, and as the clock ticked down it seemed neither side would be able to score another point. Petrillo and Aguirre raced back and forth swinging their mallets furiously at the ball, while Price-Sedano and Berman held a more firm pace. Then, to everyone's surprise, Berman scored a point from a slow walk.

The match ended and the two teams of enthusiastic rookie polo players called it a day.

For their efforts, each team member was awarded a Nespresso Coffee Machine as a polo trophy.

The AMG Miami Beach Polo World Cup will be held this weekend on the sands of Miami Beach. For more information check out www.MiamiPolo.com.