Atlantic Wins First District Title In A Decade By Edging West Boca

Prior to Thursday’s District 7A-14 championship against West Boca, Atlantic coach Steve Wilson looked up at the baseball district championship banner’s hanging in the school’s gymnasium.

He thought to himself that there was room up there for a 2012 banner.

The Eagles then went out and made it happen, coming back from a 3-0 deficit to edge the Bulls 5-4 for the school’s first district championship in 10 years.

“We had a goal at the beginning of the season, and that was to play in May,” Wilson said. “The kids were focused and they knew what they wanted to do. Opportunity only knocks so often, and I am so proud of them. They are a great bunch of young men. They had a goal and they set forward and showed heart and how much they really wanted it.”

As they have done many times before this season, the Eagles (20-7) came back for the victory. They scored all of their runs in the bottom of the second inning, after West Boca took the early lead.

Cody Bryant and Daniel Metz got the rally going with back-to-back singles leading off the second, and Chris Brown loaded the bases when he drew a two-out walk. Bobby Borque pushed the Eagles first run across after being hit by a pitch, and Kyle Blank also drew a bases-loaded walk to score Metz.

Jesse Kieffer followed with a blooper into shallow left field that the shortstop was unable to secure, allowing two more runners to come home and give Atlantic the lead which they would not relinquish.

Blank crossed home plate with the decisive run on a balk call against Bulls sophomore starter Sean Gabel, one of two questionable balk calls that cost both teams on the scoreboard.

The Bulls (15-12) turned to senior Matt Warren in the third, and the right-hander answered the bell by throwing four scoreless innings and giving his team a chance for a comeback of its own. Warren allowed just two hits the rest of the way while striking out four and not issuing any walks.

Atlantic’s Rigo Beltran bats against Bulls starter Sean Gabel.

West Boca scratched across another run in the third off of Eagles starter Sam Bergida, but the lefty continued his strong season by working his way out of jams and avoiding any more big innings. Despite a pitch count well over a hundred, the senior was able to convince his coaches to let him stay in for the seventh inning.

But once he got into trouble by walking Bulls senior designated hitter Ryan Owens, the coaches turned to the bullpen to close it out.

“Sam told me ‘I don’t think I am going to be pitching for the Florida Gators, so let me go,’ ” Coach Wilson joked. “But we had the luxury to go to Rigo Beltran. He is an outstanding pitcher with a lot of heart.”

Despite the enormous pressure of the moment, Beltran told himself it was just another game. But he also knew this was something he had always dreamed of, to play such a huge role in a game of this magnitude.

“It’s a surreal feeling,” Beltran admitted. “But this team picks each other up no matter what. Succeed or fail they have your back. We have been finding ways to do the little things and fight to win, because there is no quit in this team.”

Beltran earned the save in closing it out, although it certainly did not come easy.

Sean Kuchta crushed a Beltran delivery deep to center field for a double that put himself in scoring position as the potential go-ahead run. The Eagles elected to walk Griffin Cornwell to load the bases, and then Beltran recorded a huge called strikeout before forcing a foul-ball flyout to end it.

“We do have a sour taste in our mouths, because we let the game get away from us,” Bulls coach Nick Siano said. “Ballgames are not won, they are lost, and that is what we did tonight. The team took it hard, but rightly so. We wanted it since day one and we had opportunities right up to the last inning.”

West Boca’s Coby Pepia bats against the Eagles Sam Bergida. Bergida earned the win.

Owens had a big day at the plate, starting with an RBI double in the first that drove in catcher Michael Barash, after the junior captain had driven in Coby Pepia for the Bulls first score. Owens singled in his next at-bat and scored on a sacrifice flyout from Ian Tfirn, finishing 2-for-3 on the day.

Pepia was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs, and Griffin Cornwell was also 2-for-3.

Bergida scattered seven hits and five walks, while striking out five to earn his eighth victory of the season.

The Eagles will host Forest Hill in a regional quarterfinal, and West Boca will travel to play at Royal Palm Beach.

The Bulls will now face off against their former coach, Brian Joros, who has helped lead his Wildcats to Palm Beach County’s top record this season.

“We know that it will be more than just a regional now, and we will have to stay inside ourselves,” Siano said. “Coach Joros will have his guys ready to go. They do the little things right, so it will be a tough battle.”

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