Atlantic Advances To 7A Regional Final With 6-4 Win Over West Boca

West Boca’s Thomas Stallone bats against Atlantic’s Sam Begida, before hitting a two-run double. Stallone finished 2-for-3 with two doubles, two runs and two RBIs.

You could almost hear coach Dave Smith’s joyful laughter echoing throughout the ballpark.

The former legendary Atlantic coach who passed away in 2009 had been the last to lead the Eagles this deep into the FHSAA playoffs.

Until today, that is.

Behind a spirited performance that again received key contributions up and down the lineup, host Atlantic edged defending Class 5A state champion West Boca 6-4 in a Class 7A regional semifinal played at Little Fenway Stadium in Miller Park in Delray Beach on Tuesday night.

Coach Smith was the face of Atlantic baseball for many years before his untimely passing, guiding the Eagles to their deepest playoff runs in school history while amassing more than 300 career coaching victories. His teams always embodied everything that is pure and great about the game of baseball, exhibiting a blue-collar demeanor that preached to death a team concept.

So it seems only fitting that this group this season has been able to match Coach Smith’s brand of success.

“I know Dave Smith would love this team,” current Eagles coach Steve Wilson said. “Dave spent so many years making this program what it was. He always talked about being a grizzly, which meant to give all you have. Dave is an outstanding man and it was such a loss. It is a tribute to Dave for us to be this deep into regionals.”

The Eagles (21-7) advance to their first regional final since 1988 and will face the winner of Wednesday’s 7A semifinal between Nova and Monarch, which was among many of the Tuesday regional games that were washed out by heavy rain that swept across most of South Florida.

Even after falling into an early 2-0 hole against the Bulls (16-12), Atlantic stayed true to its nature and battled back to take a lead it would not relinquish in the bottom of the second inning.

“Atlantic is a scrappy team. They don’t give at-bats away and they don’t quit,” West Boca coach Nick Siano said. “The better team won tonight.”

Atlantic’s Joey Ohannasien led off the second with a single, and then scored on an RBI from Jesse Kieffer.

Having already spotted the Bulls a pair of runs, Atlantic wasted little time in erasing that deficit in the bottom of the first inning. Jesse Kieffer legged out a single on a high chopper to third base, and then came all the way around to score when Rigo Beltran lined a shot all the way to the wall in center field for a standup double. Beltran then tied the contest when junior catcher Brad Myott lined an RBI single into the left center-field gap.

An inning later, the Eagles went right back to work as Joey Ohannasien led off with a single on a popup that managed to drop into “no-man’s land” in shallow left field, and Chris Brown followed with a similar hit to shallow right field. Shortstop Bobby Borque then reached on a sacrifice-bunt attempt that drew the first baseman off the bag on the throw, loading the bases.

Two batters later, Kieffer drove in Ohannasien, and Brown also was allowed to cross home plate after it was ruled that he was interfered with while attempting to round third base, putting Atlantic up 4-2.

Despite the Eagles’ success at the plate, Bulls senior starter Matt Warren put forth a solid outing in what turned out to be his final high school game. The big right-hander managed to keep his pitch count low and limit the damage in order to keep his team hanging in the contest.

Meanwhile, the Bulls were also finding success against Eagles starter Sam Bergida, while likewise just failing to land that one knockout blow that would rip the game wide open.

Both pitching staffs were dogged by numerous errors and misplays, which ironically has not been common of either team throughout the season. But in a game of this magnitude, ultimately it was the positive production that determined the victor rather than hanging it on any singular mistake made by either club.

West Boca’s Michael Mule (number 15) steals second.

Given that the teams were facing one another for the fourth time this year, it was befitting that neither team would ever pull away and put the game out of reach. Before this season’s realignment, these two programs had not crossed paths often. But after just one season, it is clear these two squads have developed a solid, respectful rivalry.

“It is very difficult to play and beat a team three times in a season, especially a team of West Boca’s caliber,” Wilson said.

The Great Equalizer was Beltran, who also singled and scored the decisive run in the fourth inning and then added an RBI double in the sixth to finish 3-for-4. To complete his big day at the plate, he was also called upon to close the game out on the mound after the Bulls threatened in their final at-bats.

Thomas Stallone led off with a walk and Sean Kuchta reached on an infield error, and then Stallone came in on an RBI single by Griffin Cornwell on a hit off the “Little Green Monster” in left field.

But this moment belonged to Beltran, who calmly struck out the final two batters to earn the save and propel his Eagles into the inaugural 7A regional championship. By the time the final strike was called at home plate, the big lefty Beltran had already left the mound to lead the celebration.

“That last strike felt good; it was a big weight off my shoulders,” Beltran admitted. “The best word for this team is fun. That’s why we play this game. We pick each other up and play nice, relaxed baseball.”

For West Boca, the loss ends a season that saw several big moments and some tough, very low moments as it defended its first state crown.

“It was a rollercoaster year for us,” Siano admitted, while giving his team credit for the way they managed to overcome the adversity. “They battled, and they wanted it. Tonight just wasn’t the night.”

Warren pitched into the sixth inning, striking out three and not issuing any walks. Meanwhile the bats connected for four hits off of the “Little Green Monster”, including a pair of doubles from Stallone, the first of which drove in Coby Pepia and Bradley Busch in the first.

“It’s a season with a lot of ‘what ifs’,” Bulls junior catcher Michael Barash said. “I haven’t had this feeling since my freshman year, and I feel bad for the seniors. There was a lot of adversity, but we bounced back and came together as a family. We put it all aside and had our fun for two hours on the field.”

Cody Bryant earned the victory for the Eagles, after taking over in relief in the fourth inning. The junior right-hander threw 67 pitches over two and two-thirds innings of work, and recorded four strikeouts.

Bergida limited the Bulls to two hits and three walks, and struck out three. But the West Boca lineup was patient, as he threw 91 pitches in three and two-third innings and prompted an early call to the bullpen.

Chris Brown was 2-for-3 to lead the Eagles offense, and Brad Myott was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

“When we have the seniors that we do, we still have a junior like Brad Myott who steps up and leads these boys with the seniors,” Coach Wilson said. “We want to do all the right things and he has been a great captain.”

With so much now at stake going forward, the Eagles know the margin for error is slim.

“We have to play our best game of the season,” Beltran said. “We can’t have errors and we have to come up in pinch situations.”

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