Walk-Off Lifts Benjamin Past Kings

Zach Zientarski saved the day with a walk-off single for Benjamin.

It’s just not the same.

For years, the rivalry between Benjamin and Kings Academy has been one of the best in Palm Beach County high school baseball. Two years ago, they split their regular season match-ups but Kings defeated the Buccaneers in both the District 3A-12 title game and the regional semifinal. Last year, the Bucs seemed to have exacted some measure of revenge by sweeping the Lions in the regular season, but Kings once again got the better of them in the post season. As in 2012, they beat Benjamin in both the district championship and the regional semifinal.

Now, the county has realigned and the two find themselves in different districts for the first time in as long as anyone can seem to remember. As a result, their showdown on Tuesday night at Benjamin may not have had as much at stake, but it was as intense and tightly contested as everyone has come to expect.

The two teams battled to a 1-1 tie through six and a half innings before Zach Zientarski became an unlikely hero for Benjamin by hitting a walk-off, RBI single to hand the Bucs the 2-1 win. Not only was it his first game of the season, it was his first in a Buccaneer uniform. He transferred to Benjamin just this past year and had been recovering from Tommy John surgery up until Tuesday’s game.

“I was a little anxious my first couple of at-bats,” said Zientarski who had gone 0-for-2 and was hit by a pitch before his final trip to the plate. “But I calmed myself down, got a little pumped up. I was just looking for a fastball, to get into a fastball count.”

When he got it, he knew just what to do. With Baylen Sparks standing on second after doubling in the previous at-bat, Zientarski went opposite field, dropping a fly ball in front of the Lion’s right fielder. Once the ball landed, Sparks took off and never looked back. After he crossed the plate he and his teammates mobbed their latest contributor.

Zientarski was not the only star for Benjamin. Perhaps the best, or at least the gutsiest performance came from their starting pitcher. Now a senior, Chad Swift last pitched against the rival Lions when he was a freshman. On Tuesday he got the nod and made the most of his opportunity, pitching all seven innings to walk away with his first win of the campaign. Despite allowing eight hits, he only allowed one unearned run and, while he ran into some trouble at times, he either made the pitches when he needed to or was able to count on his fielders to help him out of it.

Benjamin manager Brian Kaplan never planned for Swift to pitch the complete game. When it came to the sixth inning, there would be no denying the pitcher though.

“He came to me in the sixth inning when we were at about pitch count limit,” Kaplan continued. “It was a 1-1 game and he was working his butt off and he just said, ‘Coach, I really want to finish up here,’ and ‘We’re gonna win this.’ So I gave him the opportunity to do it and he deserved it. “He got off to a slow start; he didn’t have a great performance early in the year. He started to perform better, but his record didn’t really show it.”

Some of the trouble that Swift ran into came in the first inning. He allowed a hit to the second batter he faced, Ryan Johnson. Dominic Mercurio followed up with what looked to be a double-play ball to second base, but the throw to first was off line. While Johnson was out at second, Mercurio simply replaced him by advancing on the errant throw.

James Vaughan was a bright spot on an otherwise disappointing afternoon for the Lions. He had two hits in three at-bats and wasted little time making Benjamin pay for their early mistake, driving Mercurio home with a double to give Kings an early 1-0 lead.

Nick Bates of Kings Academy waits for the right pitch.

Matt Ellmyer looked to set the table for Benjamin in the bottom half of the first by leading off with the first of his two base-hits. The next three batters went down quietly to Kings starting pitcher, Sean Hart, who allowed five hits and one run during his four innings on the mound.

In the second inning, it was much the same story for the Buccaneers as they tried to get on the scoreboard. This time, Bennett Sousa led off with a double to deep right field. But once again, Sean Hart set the rest of the side down in order, although not without some help from his defense. With two outs, Vaughan made an run-saving, diving stab of a Parker Quinn line-drive to pick up his pitcher and leave Sousa stranded.

In the third, Benjamin finally broke through. Ellmyer singled and Kyle Ruedisili drew a walk to put him in scoring position. Sparks then pulled a ground ball down the third baseline for an RBI single to tie the game. It was Sparks’ first hit of a 3-for-4 night that also included scoring the winning run.

The Lions made a strong effort to pull back in front during their next inning at the plate. Swift was able to induce two quick outs, but then an error allowed Ben Lowinski to take first base. Colin Valente moved him to second with a single, and with two out and two on, the pressure was on for Swift. It looked as though he had succumbed to it when Nick Bates hit a hard, sinking liner towards shortstop, but Ellmyer ranged to his left and made a diving grab to save the inning for the Bucs.

“I thought that would get past him for sure,” Swift said, recalling the moment. “But when I saw him, I turned around and he was on top of it, I was just like, ‘We’re not going to lose this game’.”

Swift responded to the support from his defenders by pitching his only hitless inning in the fifth. But in the sixth he admittedly began to tire a little. He gave up a leadoff single to Sean Hart, who then stole second to put the tie in jeopardy. Swift induced a ground ball to third and a pop up to first for the first two outs, then dug deep and fanned his first batter since the third inning. The strikeout was his fifth and final of the night.

As if getting out of the jam was not enough, Swift promptly went to work to help his own cause in the bottom half of the frame. He dropped a single into shallow center field to get things started for the Bucs and believed his guys would bring him around.

“I thought that might have been the dagger,” he said afterwards.

And it almost was. Quinn bunted him to second and with two out, and Ellmyer ripped into a 3-1 pitch from Lions reliever Matt Tucker. It was a line drive that might have dropped for a base hit if it were hit anywhere but right at King’s shortstop Nick Bates.

In the fifth inning, Sparks had gotten his second hit of the night by splitting the Lion’s third baseman and shortstop with a hard grounder. Perhaps it was that hit that allowed him to pull his third hit down the third baseline for a double in the seventh.

“I thought it was going to get through,” Sparks said about his hit in the fifth. “They didn’t really start to move over until that last at-bat, and then I pulled it down the line.”

That’s when the new guy stepped in. Zientarski. What followed simply adds another name to a storied history between these two great rivals.

Swift is proud of the way his team responded to the pressure and fought back for the win.

“We got down early, but we didn’t put our heads down,” Swift said. “We didn’t back off. We could have let them score four more runs on us, they’re a good team. We just said, ‘You know what? Time to grind.'”

Matt Ellmyer scored the Bucs first run and went 2-for-3.

While a win is always nice, this one is a little bittersweet for the Buccaneers.

“It doesn’t have the district meaning,” Kaplan said after the game. “But anytime you can play a competitive game, a one-run game, and the kids can learn how to play real baseball, we look forward to that opportunity.”

Kings Manager Doug Magaw also acknowledged that this one didn’t have the same feel to it.

“It’s a little different, you know,” Magaw said. “But we respect what they do up here and I hope they respect what we do down there. I didn’t expect any other kind of game.”

The loss drops the Lions to 7-6, and they have their hands full in their new district, 4A-13, which includes fourth-ranked American Heritage, Cardinal Newman and Pope John Paul II.

“We’re in a tough district, no doubt, so we’re just going to keep working on the fundamentals,” he commented when asked what it will take to be competitive in 4A-13. He also realizes that things could have easily turned out different on Tuesday. “We hit the ball all over the place today,” he said. “And right at them. So we’re going to continue to build on that. Timely hitting and solid defense. It’s not rocket science.”

Benjamin improves to 6-4, but are not without challenges of their own. Their new district features to Melbourne Central Catholic, the defending Class 3A state champions.

“We got thrown right into another tough district,” Kaplan said. “So we’re excited about that.”

But not as excited as he would be if Kings was still their main competition.

“I would have rathered still being able to play Kings in the post season,” Kaplan admitted. “Just because we always enjoy the battle; but we wish them luck and we know we have some challenges ahead of us.”

Kaplan is not alone in that sentiment. Many of his players feel the same way.

“It’s always a fun game when we play Kings,” said Sparks.

Swift echoed him.

“When I found out the news that they changed districts out of ours and we weren’t playing each other twice a year anymore, I was kind of disappointed,” said Swift.

For now, just once will have to do. As long as they are as closely contested as Tuesday’s, that should be enough.

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