Boca Christian Secures District’s Top Seed With 13-4 Victory Over Wellington Christian

Boca Christian’s R.J. Walsh bats during the Blazers 13-4 victory over Wellington Christian. Walsh reached base in all five of his plate appearances.

The main focus for the Boca Christian baseball team this season has been to repeat as district champions.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Blazers moved one step closer to achieving that goal.

Host Boca Christian secured the top seed in District 2A-12 with a 13-4 victory over Wellington Christian on Tuesday afternoon in Boca Raton.

As 2A-12 is only a three-team district, the top seed is assured a slot in the district championship.

“This feels really good. We knew this was really important,” freshman starting pitcher Blaize McSweeney said. “I’m glad we pulled it off. When you have a whole team with you and play as a team, it’s what it’s really about.”

The Blazers (8-6, 2-0) stormed out of the gates offensively to erase a 3-0 deficit with five runs in the bottom of the first inning. Thanks to the strong backing from the offense, McSweeney settled in and threw 49 pitches over four innings to earn the victory.

“I was a little worried in the first inning, but it really helped when we got some runs, too,” McSweeney said.

The Eagles (3-12, 0-2) jumped on the right-hander, as the first five hitters he faced reached base. Leadoff hitter Kyle Berkowitz opened the scoring when he came in on a fielder’s-choice RBI groundout from Steven Pettet. Dustin Goff followed with an RBI single to push across Zach Rogers, and then Goff came around to score on an error.

Goff was 2-for-3 with a pair of stolen bases, and Rogers also swiped a pair.

Both teams were incredibly aggressive on the bases, putting tremendous pressure on the defenses while limiting the number of opportunities to record a double play and putting more base-runners in scoring position.

Wellington Christian’s Connor Kelaher pitches against district rival Boca Christian.

“This was like a playoff game,” Boca Christian coach Clint Erickson said. “I’m proud of the team effort. Every player contributed, and I’m proud of the job everybody did.”

Already trailing before they’d even taken their first swings, the Blazers struck back by batting around the order in the bottom of the first inning.

Leadoff hitter Casey Carpinello reached on an error that put him on second, and then opened the scoring on an RBI single on a blooper to right field from Jonathan Kreh. After R.J. Walsh walked, Tommy Havelka stung a shot up the middle that got past the outfielder to clear the bases and allow him to also come around and score.

Clay Patten later scored in the inning on a wild pitch, after getting on base on a walk.

Kreh was 2-for-5 with a triple, two RBI and two runs, and Havelka was also 2-for-4.

McSweeney added to his own cause in going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, a stolen base and a run.

Walsh came on in relief to close out the final three frames, allowing only one hit while striking out five and dashing any hopes of an Eagles’ comeback.

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