Blazers Ride Big First Inning To 5-2 Victory Over Master’s Academy

Boca Christian’s R.J. Walsh had a double, a stolen base and a run, and pitched four shutout relief innings

All season long, the Boca Christian baseball team had a goal to repeat as district champions.

With that goal accomplished, the team talked about a new vision.

“Why stop at districts?” Blazers coach Clint Erickson asked. “So we challenged them to play flawlessly – which is almost impossible.”

In Thursday afternoon’s Class 2A regional quarterfinal, the Blazers did their best to make their coach a believer in the impossible, as they played a solid overall game to edge Master’s Academy 5-2.

“It was a good, enjoyable game to be a part of,” Erickson said. “They played with passion and made great plays, and they answered with their bats.”

Boca Christian (12-8) broke the game open with all the runs it would need with their first swings in the bottom of the first inning.

Casey Carpinello got things started off right with a bloop single to right field, and Jonathan Kreh and Tommy Havelka both reached to load the bases and put Carpinello in the right position to capitalize on a wild pitch by coming in for the team’s first score.

Third baseman Rudy Lopez then delivered the uppercut blow when he crushed a pitch to deep left field that fell just past the outstretched glove of the diving right fielder, giving Lopez a two-run standup triple. Two batters later, Grant Gardiner lined a pitch into the left-center field gap for a double that easily scored Lopez, putting the Blazers up 4-0.

Once the momentum swung widely in their favor on Lopez’s hit, it seemed to remain with the host Blazers. Even after the Patriots (12-7) pushed across a run in each of the next two innings, Boca Christian continued to plug away and record outs and push the game to its conclusion.

Jonathan Kreh started the game and earned the victory to improve to 2-1 on the season.

“Those big moments rally us,” Havelka said. “It’s really exciting. In the beginning of the season we did not always get along, but now we’re close together like brothers and we have confidence in each other and ourselves.”

Boca Christian added an insurance run in the bottom of the third inning, as R.J. Walsh doubled, then stole third and came across home on an RBI single from Blaize McSweeney.

Kreh started on the mound for Boca Christian, holding the Patriots to two runs in three innings of work before turning the ball over to Walsh to close it out. Walsh then shut the door on any comeback hopes by holding them to one hit and a pair of walks over the final four frames.

“I can’t be mad at them,” Patriots coach Charles Brown said. “We just didn’t play our game today. We had a game plan but it didn’t go according to that plan.”

Master’s was playing in its first regional game after competing in a district this season for the first time, as the program is only in its second year of existence.

“We commend Master’s for their program; they are very solid. They should be proud,” Coach Erickson said.

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