Benjamin Outslugs Kings 11-7 In GOTW Showdown

Bennett Sousa (#25) and the rest of the Benjamin Buccaneers had plenty of reason to celebrate during Saturday’s 11-7 win in the HSBN Game of the Week.

In a rivalry this ingrained, nobody can ever remember who threw the first punch.

But they always remember who landed the last one.

On Saturday, it was host Benjamin prevailing 11-7 over King’s Academy in a thrilling Game of the Week slugfest played at Jacobs Field in Palm Beach Gardens.

The Bucs (12-2) lock down the top seed in District 3A-12 at 3-0, after the Lions fall to 2-2 in the district. King’s (8-6) will face Jupiter Christian in the opening round of the district playoffs, while Benjamin secures a bye to await that winner in the 3A-12 championship.

The Game of the Week concept was created by HSBN with the intention of raising money for the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Foundation, while also giving fans something to get excited about each week.

On Saturday the contest featured two schools that rival one another in all sports, and two baseball programs who have faced off in many epic battles over recent years.

“It’s the highlight of our season to play them, something we look forward to, something where we strive to get the win against them,” Bucs center fielder Kody Ruedisili said. “The Game of the Week made it an awesome experience. It was cool having the first pitch ceremony and seeing the banners, and having all the fans come out. Obviously there is nothing better than playing the Game of the Week and we won.”

Kody Ruedisili has not forgotten how the Lions rattled off three straight victories over the team last season, including a loss in the regional playoffs that ended their season.

So far this season Benjamin has gone 2-0 against their rivals to enact some payback, including a 4-0 shutout victory at King’s Academy on March 4th.

“Last time we were fortunate to shut them out at their place, but I think it was a fluke,” Benjamin Manager Brian Kaplan admitted. “But when they step on the field, no lead is safe and you’ve gotta go hard to the last play in every facet of the game. Today, for the most part, we did.”

Benjamin pounded out 15 hits and put runners on base in every inning.

Dominic Mercurio had an RBI single for the Lions.

“We can’t give up eleven runs and expect to beat a good team,” Lions Manager Doug Magaw said. “We can’t make mistakes against these guys. We know we have to go back to the drawing board and do a better job of locating our pitches.”

Benjamin is hitting .378 as a team and has scored 107 runs on the season, and on Saturday Magaw used seven different pitchers against the potent Bucs lineup.

“This one wasn’t scripted,” Magaw said, after his team had also used many pitchers in their previous contest earlier this week. “We were just trying to find somebody who wanted to come out and compete.”

No matter who Kings put on the mound, the Bucs continued to find holes in the field.

Just as it has all year, the top of the Benjamin lineup wrecked havoc all day in going 11-for-16 while accounting for the majority of the damage.

“It has been the coaches with the approach they have instilled in us,” said Kody Ruedisili, who was 4-for-4 and also walked to reach base all five attempts. “First-pitch fastball, we are not letting those go by, not getting behind in the count. Making sure we do the little things to be successful, such as getting a guy over or sac-bunting. Overall it’s been working pretty well.”

The Bucs had back-to-back three run innings in the fourth and fifth to break open a close game for a 9-3 lead.

After Kody Ruedisili singled to lead off the fourth, D.J. Paone drilled the ball deep to the right field wall and raced around the bases for his fourth triple of the season. Matt Harris followed with an RBI single up the middle, and then scored himself when Bennett Sousa drove one to the right field corner for an RBI double.

Paone again came up with the big hit in the fifth, when he roped a bases-loaded shot to center field that plated two runners. He finished 3-for-5 with two runs.

Benjamin AD Ryan Smith (left) shakes hands with John Carpenter, grandfather of King’s starter Johnny Carpenter (center) before both men throw out the ceremonial first pitches. Photo courtesy of Beth Carpenter.

“We teach our guys to be aggressive with the fastball, and the top of the lineup seemed to set the tone,” Kaplan said. “They seemed to have the opportunity to set the tempo every inning, and they did.”

Benjamin wasted little time in jumping ahead in a game it never trailed in with three runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Kody Ruedisili lined a first-pitch fastball over third base for a leadoff single, and Paone followed by driving the ball to centerfield and legging out a double to put both runners in scoring position.

Two batters later, Sousa drove one deep to left field for an RBI double that brought in both runners. Sousa later scored on a ball in the dirt.

Meanwhile, after Kings leadoff hitter Johnny Carpenter lined a single to center field and Ryan Johnson was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base, Bucs starter Matt Harris recovered to strike out the side.

Harris earned the victory on the mound to improve to 4-0 this year, throwing 77 pitches in four innings and recording six strikeouts.

Sousa closed out the final three innings and finished with four strikeouts.

However, the Lions found plenty of success against both pitchers, and Coach Kaplan took part of that blame on himself.

“I’m a big fastball proponent, and I like to have them just come with the fastball,” Kaplan admitted. “But these guys have seen Harris and Sousa over the years, and to their credit they were aggressive against them. They are a great team and they don’t know quit. Magaw really plays them hard and they kept swinging and putting balls in play. Some they hit hard and some they got some bounces, so they were able to stay in the game.”

The Lions mounted a late comeback attempt by scoring two runs in each of the final three innings, and stranded two runners on their final swings.

Ryan Johnson helped spark the comeback bid with an RBI double in the fifth that scored Carpenter, who led the frame off with a single. Johnson also scored later in the inning on a fielder’s choice RBI from James Vaughan, and he was 3-for-3 with a stolen base on the day.

John Carpenter shows he’s still got it with his Ceremonial First Pitch to Lions catcher Ryan Johnson. Photo courtesy of Beth Carpenter.

Jacob Krigbaum singled and scored on an RBI when Joe Gomez found the sweet spot with his bat to drive one into the right-center field gap, and Gomez also scored on a wild pitch that pulled the Lions to within 9-5.

Gomez added an RBI double in top of the seventh, and then scored on an RBI single from Nick Bates.

But in the end the deficit was too large, and the Lions simply ran out of outs.

Yet with the strong possibility that these two teams will meet again in this year’s postseason, neither would allow itself to get too high or too low following Saturday’s result.

“We felt we hit the ball well enough to compete,” Magaw said. “They were focused, and we know we can compete with this team. It’s just a matter of putting a whole game together. We have to make sure our pitchers have command and locate. We don’t have pitchers like them who can roar back and blow the fastball by you. We’ve got to be able to put it where we want it.”

In this rivalry, each side is well aware that there will always be another showdown right behind it. In many ways, each squad not only expects it, but they welcome it and the challenge that it brings every time they face off.

“The big games against Kings are in districts and regionals,” Kody Ruedisili said. “In the past we haven’t been successful. But just knowing we can beat them and we’ve beaten them twice already will give us confidence.”

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