Stallions Fall After Difficult Final Ruling To End Game

Lucius Fox scores what would have been the tying run.

When the last game of your season ends in a loss, it is always difficult.

But this one hurt even more.

Officially, Thursday’s Class 3A regional quarterfinal goes in the books as a 1-0 victory for host Coral Springs Christian Academy over American Heritage-Delray.

The details offer a far different story, however, and one that unfolds like a Greek tragedy for any Stallions fans.

The Crusaders (21-6) cruised through six scoreless innings behind their junior ace Touki Toussaint, taking a 1-0 lead into the top of the seventh inning amidst a growing rainstorm that had finally arrived in the sixth after threatening the area all afternoon.

Down to their final swings, Heritage-Delray (13-14) rallied back to tie the score, before play was suspended when conditions worsened as the rain increased to a downpour.

When it became apparent that the game could not continue, the final ruling reverted the game back to the last completed inning of play, meaning the official record wiped clean all action past the completion of the sixth inning.

It was not as easy for Stallions Manager Carm Mazza to explain such a decision to his team, especially to his ace Anthony Delaney, who had also pitched the entire game to match Toussaint’s efforts.

“It shouldn’t end that way. It’s a rule, but it’s not fair,” Mazza said. “It’s heart-breaking for all those kids. The umpires were just going by the book, but it was very hard to tell 18 young men to go by the book rule after they battled all day. I’m proud of what they did; they never gave up. I’ve taught them to play to the last out, and that last out was never made.”

Toussaint had gone just one batter over the minimum into the seventh, allowing just a single to Todd Isaacs, who was then erased on an inning-ending double play, while hitting Christian Bingo with a pitch.

But with the rain coming down and time running out, Lucius Fox struck through to drive the ball past first base and reach base with just one out. The sophomore then broke on the first pitch and slid safely into second base ahead of the throw to successfully swipe the bag and get into scoring position.

American Heritage-Delray ace Anthony Delaney went the distance in the loss, recording nine strikeouts on 102 pitches.

Fate seemed for just a moment to be working in the Stallions favor, as Fox found himself just 90 feet from home plate after he advanced on a passed ball, and then trotted home to tie the score when Connor Power lifted a pitch deep to left field for a sacrifice fly-out.

Chris Canavan then drew a walk to represent the go-ahead run, but play was halted after that as the conditions became beyond unplayable.

All that had just happened, in fact, did not officially happen.

“They didn’t show up to hand it to somebody,” Mazza said. “After losing in the district championship, we were focused today. We worked hard all week to prepare, and it was tough to lose that way. We didn’t expect that.”

In a move that Mazza admitted was an appreciated gesture, Crusaders Manager Matt Cleveland asked for a moment to speak to the Stallions following the outcome.

“We didn’t want to win it that way. I’ll take the win, but we empathize with them,” Cleveland said. “I know how much hard work goes into a high school baseball season, and how much practice and dedication it takes to get to this point. They’re a great team, and Delaney has the biggest heart I’ve ever seen. After the last two years competing against him, I felt for him.”

Even though the worsening weather conditions affected the playing field in that seventh inning, Toussaint and Cleveland both refused to make excuses.

“Touki probably shouldn’t have gone out in the seventh, and he probably shouldn’t have been pitching on that mound. But give them credit, because the batter’s box was sloppy, too,” said Cleveland.

The Stallions Connor Power fought through the heavy rain to slug a shot deep to left field for a sacrifice fly-out that ultimately did not count.

With Toussaint finding his groove on Thursday, Delaney’s performance became that much more important in keeping Heritage in the contest.

Even despite getting into trouble in each of the first three innings of work, the senior pitched his way through each jam in making the most out of his tenth and final start of the season.

The Crusaders worked a run off the right-hander in the bottom of the fifth inning on an RBI single from Benito Santiago that scored Pemron Burrows, after the center fielder was hit by a pitch leading off and advanced into scoring position on a single from Toussaint.

But Delaney recovered to strike out the next two batters to strand two and keep it a one-run ball game. Just as he’d done all year long since transferring over this season from Summit Christian, the senior ace had put in another fine performance to lead this young team.

“Anthony deserved better than that,” Mazza said. “He’s a tough kid and we would have liked to have given him a good run. Our other senior pitcher, Alec Feigenbaum, he put off having surgery and maybe pitching in college just so he can play this year for us. They both have battled for us.”

Although both coaches were aware that weather could and likely would affect the play, both programs went to much trouble in a short amount of time in order to give the teams a chance to get it in and not delay playing any longer than necessary.

But Mazza admits that he never even considered the outcome as a possibility, while also expressing hope he can help enact some change in such a rule.

“I never thought it would revert back in a do-or-die game like that,” Mazza said. “There is no appeal, so we have to move forward. But we’re going to go talk to the state, and hopefully it’s a rule we can get changed so nothing like this happens to another team again. Hopefully we can get a following from people who love high school baseball like we do and we can get this right. I don’t ever want another team to feel like this.”

With the program coming off a strong season in which it finished as the state runners up, expectations around the county had been high for the squad this year. But although some may consider their 13-14 finish to be short of such expectations, a deeper look at this group reveals just how successful they really were.

Next year the Stallions will return the majority of the team that bonded together as a unit this season.

After graduating the core of that state team of a year ago, the Stallions fielded a team made up primarily of underclassmen that were charged with meeting those championship expectations. On Thursday that same group went toe-to-toe against a pitcher who likely will be pitching in the major leagues someday

“It’s a different team this year. A lot of young guys were thrust into being leaders,” Mazza admitted. “I didn’t make it any easier on them with the schedule we had. But it was worth it, and they played tough.”

Moving ahead, the Stallions are encouraged by the fact that the majority of this young team will return together next season.

“We’re a talented group, and we will have been there and seen it now,” Mazza said. “I feel after this loss wears off, we’ll start feeling excited as we look forward.”

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