Boca Raton Manages To Hold Off King’s Academy

Lions starter Mitchell Evelyn gets ready to deliver a pitch.

Boca Raton’s Matt Alen and King’s Academy’s Mitchell Evelyn staged a pitchers’ duel Thursday night, with Boca Raton coming out on top 2-1.

The Lions started the game swinging the bats with back-to-back singles with one out from right fielder Mark Zippin and center fielder John Carpenter.  Dominic Mercurio continued the inning, getting on base with two outs. Alen continued battling throughout the inning and was able to pitch out of a bases’-loaded jam without allowing a run.

Evelyn made it clear that it was going to be a pitchers’ match-up by retiring the first three hitters he faced in a row with the help of his defense making plays behind him.

The Lions continued to add pressure to the Bobcats defense with third baseman, Ryan Johnson, leading off the second with a base hit to right. After getting the leadoff hitter on board, the Lions were unsuccessful capitalizing on the opportunity after second baseman Charles McDulin reached base on balls. Alen again settled down and was able to end the inning with another shutout. 

The Bobcats were the first to strike, scoring one in the bottom of the second, but they did it without a hit.

Bobcats starter Matt Alen helped to contain the Lions.

Evelyn started the second inning retiring designated hitter T.J. Tamaccio, but had a little trouble finding the strike zone which led to a bases loaded walk that allowed pinch-runner Joey Daidone to score. Though a challenging inning, Evelyn kept his composure and showed that he can pitch himself out of a jam by getting out of the inning only allowing one run.

“Comes down to timely hitting,” King’s Academy Manager Doug Magaw said. “We out hit the other team. Unfortunately, the hits weren’t when we had men on base.”

Pitching continued to dominate the game. The Bobcats scored only one more time in the fourth as the speedy center fielder Sebastean Gonzalez ran around the base path causing the Lions defense to make some throws to allow the run to score. 

The Lions did not go down without a fight as catcher Joe Gomez led off the fifth inning with a shot to left center, allowing him to walk into second. After a few mishaps from the Bobcats defense, Gomez was able to score the only run for the Lions.

“Tip our cap to the Lions pitching. They were able to pitch out of some situations,” Boca Raton Manager Rick Clagett said. “We have to learn how to win these kinds of baseball games. Those one run games, you have to scrap and win.”

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