Atlantic Beats West Boca For Season Sweep

Alex Cordes drove in four of Atlantic’s six runs while batting in the lead-off spot.

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The Atlantic Eagles and the West Boca Bulls have been at each other’s throats for years now.

In 2013, the Bulls swept the Eagles in the regular season then, to add insult to injury, beat them twice again in the playoffs. They swept the Eagles again last season, but then the tides turned. Atlantic shocked them in the semi-finals of the playoffs, edged them by a run in their first meeting this year, then, on Thursday night at Miller Park in Delray Beach, completed the season sweep by shutting them out, 6-0.

The win ended a four-game skid by the reigning 7A-13 champion Eagles (10-10), and pushed them back to .500 both overall and within the District 7A-13 with a 5-5 mark.

The Eagles twice used the bottom of their order to set the table for the top. Their starting pitcher, Duane Cyr, also worked his way out of numerous jams en route to the victory.

The Bulls were able to put a runner on third base in six of their seven innings, but each time they ultimately came away empty. The first such occurrence was when Chris Busch gutted out a seven-pitch walk to start the game. He moved to second on a well-executed hit-and-run by Michael Lazarus, and then swiped third. But he was stranded when Nicholas Cortese charged in from right field to scoop up a sinking liner by Oscar Bustamante.

In the second inning, eight-hole hitter James Butera reached on an error. Then nine-hole hitter Brach Thomas took a 2-2 pitch into left field for a double.

“I didn’t even expect him to throw me a fastball,” said Thomas. “I thought he was going to give me a breaking ball so I kind of stepped up to the plate and choked up. He threw me a low fastball and I turned on it and put it over his head.”

Atlantic lead-off man Alex Cordes fell behind 0-2 in the next at-bat, but got a hold of the third pitch and dropped it down the left field line for an RBI single that scored Butera. Cortese then split the left side of the infield with a ground ball to bring Thomas around and stake Cyr to a 2-0 lead.

Cyr pitched most of the night with the lingering pain caused from fouling a ball off his foot and getting hit by a pitch immediately thereafter in the first inning. Despite all the runners that reached third base against him, he was able to toss a complete game shutout that included seven K’s.

Chris Busch advanced to third base on three separate occasions but never made it the final 90 feet.

In the third inning, West Boca advanced two runners to third but still walked away empty handed. Busch lead off with a single and went to second on a wild pitch. Chris Sanders then beat out a perfect bunt down the third base line and stole second base to put two runners in scoring position with none out for Lazarus. When Lazarus fell behind in the count, West Boca Manager Nathan Underwood called for a daring squeeze play to try and kick-start his offense. Lazarus failed to make contact though, getting Busch caught in a run down that eventually ended with him being tagged out for an unconventional double play.

“When you’re not hitting the ball, sometimes you’re going to look like a fool because you’re almost forced to make something happen,” said Underwood about the gutsy call. “And sometimes it doesn’t work.”

The play did manage to move Sanders to third as well, but he was stranded there by an inning-ending ground out. A West Boca runner reached third base in each of the next two innings as well. Chris Charlock made it there in the fourth with one out and Busch got there in the fifth via two sacrifice bunts after another lead-off walk. Each time Cyr was able to clamp down and escape unscathed.

“It’s all about routine,” Cyr said about his ability to work out of the jams. “If you keep the routine going you won’t have a problem. Don’t even think about it; just do your job, throw strikes and let your defense back you up.”

Cordes gave Cyr some breathing room in the bottom of the sixth. As in the second inning, the bottom of the order set the Eagles’ leadoff man up for a big hit. Luis Beltran and Justin Viscaro each reached to open the inning then Butera and Thomas followed up with a fielder’s choice and base hit that loaded the bases with one out. Cordes stepped in and sent the second pitch he saw into left field for an opposite-field, bases-clearing double that gave him four RBIs on the night.

Duane Cyr hurled a complete game shutout for the Eagles.

“With Brach’s speed and his ability to lay down a bunt he is like a second lead-off guy, and that’s kind of what the nine-hole is all about,” said Cordes about his teammates’ ability to get on base for him. “Then we’ve got James in the eight-hole, who is another really good power and contact hitter. So it’s really good to have those guys on base and give me some opportunities to get some RBIs, which is rare for a lead-off hitter.”

Cortese closed out the scoring by driving Cordes home in the next at-bat.

“We had an approach today that I think was a good approach,” said Atlantic Manager Steve Wilson. “Our players came very focused.”

Wilson hopes they maintain that focus through next week, when they have their final three district match-ups of the season on the docket.

The loss drops West Boca to 10-11 overall and 6-5 in 7A-13. Although frustrated, Underwood remains optimistic.

“At this point you just have to let everything wash out and see where you’re going and whether you’re the second or the seventh seed,” said the Bulls skipper. “I think we can scare some people.”

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