Boca Raton Aims For Consistency, Stability

Austin Schultz returns to the pitching rotation after being injured last year.

The members of the Boca Raton baseball team wear their caps when they’re out on the field, but they might as well be wearing hard hats. There’s construction going on within the program as the team is working towards building a solid foundation upon which it can achieve the type of success it needs to be considered among the elite programs at the school.

A year ago, Rick Clagett took over as manager at Boca Raton with the intent to bring some stability and consistency to a program that was on its third coach in as many seasons. He put a plan in place to bring the program to a level that some of the other sports — such as volleyball and soccer — at the school have enjoyed.

Clagett’s plan is coming together with a high of optimism surrounding the program this fall season, though there’s still a lot to be done before the team reaches that level.

“We’re still working toward that,” said Clagett, who came to the school after a stint as assistant coach at North Broward Prep. “We’re still fairly young as a ballclub. We have five seniors this year.”

As Clagett sees it, though, things are progressing naturally in his second season at the helm.

“The first year is always tough as a head coach,” Clagett said. “Expectations are different for guys. You’re trying to put in your agenda and make everyone buy into that. I think we’re starting to buy into that. Last year’s seniors, it was tough for them to have three coaches in three years, so it was a little tough adjustment. I think that’s every first year. I think there’s an adjustment with coaches and an adjustment with players. I think we’re making progress. I don’t think we’re quite there yet, but we’re making progress.”

Mike Amditis returns as catcher after a solid freshman season last year. Clagett said about five players are vying for infield positions, but the outfield looks solid with junior left fielder Mike Spooner returning as well as senior center fielder Mike Smiciklas, who recently signed with Duke. Senior Sebastian Gonzalez also is back to play in the outfield. Spooner, Amditis and Gonzalez were among the top hitters last year.

Pitching is among the team strengths with senior right-handed pitchers Alex Katz and Austin Schultz, who was injured last year. Sophomore lefties Mitchell Singer and Jagger McCoy will bolster the rotation.

One of things the team is doing differently this fall is bringing all the players together on one team rather than splitting them up into two squads.

Mike Spooner is back in left field for the Bobcats.

“We’re getting everyone an entire game instead of splitting half and half. I think it’s working out. We’re seeing more pitches and hitting better,” junior outfielder/pitcher Mike Spooner said.

Seeing more pitches will “make it easier for us to see the ball out of the pitcher’s hand,” Spooner said, and that’s important because of how loaded the district is in pitching.

Amditis said the team also is putting a lot of time into conditioning with an eye toward being in the best shape they can be for the spring.

“We’re working really hard in the weight room and doing a lot better than last year,” Amditis said. “We’re focusing on getting stronger.”

One of the biggest things Boca is trying to overcome this year is failing to get the key hit, a problem that accounted for the team going 11-14 last year. The Bobcats played several close games last year but fell short in some of them.

To help remedy that, Clagett has the team focusing on its approaches at the plate. Clagett and his assistants are trying to get the players to think more depending on the situation instead of just swinging.

“It just comes down to execution, whether it comes from the mound executing or whether it’s at the plate,” Clagett said. “I think last year what escaped us we couldn’t get that big hit. We couldn’t get a hit with runners in scoring position. We struggled to put ourselves ahead. We just struggled to get that hit. We left entirely too many runners on base in scoring position with two outs, so we’re hoping to change that this year, at least put balls in play. We had too many strikeouts, things of that nature. We just weren’t executing. I think when you’re playing the one- or two-run games, the team that executes is going to come out on top.”

Spooner said he’s noticed an improvement this fall in execution and is confident the team will do better with that this spring as well. Execution in close games will be key as the team makes its way through the land mines of its district competition. The district opponents include familar foes John I. Leonard, Park Vista and Spanish River. Seminole Ridge moves to another district with Santaluces taking its place. Boca is hoping to avoid getting ousted in the first round of the district playoffs as it did last year when it fell 10-0 to longtime rival River, which beat Boca three times last year.

“We have River always,” Amditis said. “Lost to them twice last year, so we’re trying to get that back. We’re working real hard to achieve our goals and win a district championship.”

Clagett said Santaluces will fit right in with the other teams in the district.

T.J. Tamaccio plays at first base in a recent game for the Bobcats.

“Our whole district, you go down the line, I think any team can beat any team on any given day,” Clagett said. “I don’t think there’s anyone you can say, ‘Wow, this team’s just that much better than everybody. I think everybody’s fairly even. It’s whoever goes out and executes that. We all approach all the teams in our district the same way. That goes for everyone from top to bottom wherever they’re at. I think they’re all very good ballclubs.”

To prepare for the district, the Bobcats will play some of the better programs in the region, such as Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, Highlands Christian, West Boca and Atlantic.

Also to get ready for the spring competition, the Bobcats are playing a lot of games now as Clagett works to get them familiar with winning. Accordingly, Clagett wants the team to be more consistent. Boca won consecutive games just three times last year.

“I think this program at Boca needs to learn how to win baseball games,” he said. “Last year in the fall, we didn’t focus on the winning as much. It was more trying to implement our agenda as coaches. This year, we’re focused more on winning baseball games, learning how to win. I think it’s a process to learn how to win. I think that’s our biggest hurdle right now is being consistent and not having three- or four-game stretches of a losing streak. You can’t do that in this district. You can’t lose three or four games in this district and expect to be anywhere close to the top at the end of the year come playoff time.”

One thing that is consistent with the program is having Boca Raton Middle School as its home field. The team has improved it, including adding new infield grass.

“Last year, it was pretty brutal,” Clagett said. “We’ve made a lot of changes to the field. There’s still some things upcoming. We’re trying to make this into our home. You always like a place to call home. The year I took over, we took this field over. The middle school has been great with me, letting me do things to the field to upgrade it, and we’re just trying to make this our home field. It’s always nice to have a place to call home.”

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