Lake Worth Christian Pulls Away Late Over Boca Christian

Friday afternoon’s HSBN Palm Beach Game of the Week provided nonstop action at an inviting atmosphere on a beautiful day of baseball, as Boca Christian hosted 2A-7 rival Lake Worth Christian. The visiting Defenders broke open a tied game in the top of the fifth inning to account for the winning runs in a 10-7 final result.

Zjeanuwayne Braafhart lined a single into the left-center field gap for an RBI single and his second hit of the day in the fifth, scoring Vinny Picardi to put the Defenders back in the lead for good. Rovinel Mathilda also scored on an error, Braafhart came in on an RBI from Timmy Jacobus and Collin Donnelly scored on a sac-fly RBI from Aldon Stacie.

Lake Worth Christian (3-1) keeps pace at the front of the district with a 2-0 record, but manager Kraig Lawrence is not ready to celebrate anything yet. While pleased with the victory, the more valuable lesson may come in the motivation for the team to be prepared for tough challenges on the road and in the district.

“We know we did not play our style of baseball, and we played a game that we’re not happy about and not going to be happy about,” Lawrence said. “So we have practice tomorrow at nine in the morning and all I did was challenge them that if they want to play and if you want to be good, be on the line tomorrow at nine o’clock in the morning and let’s get back to work. We know we have to work to be good.”

Boca Christian’s Austin Smith is congratulated by manager Clint Erickson after hiss first-inning triple, which followed Gino Bellantoni’s leadoff triple.

The Blazers have struggled a bit out of the gate as a new group comes together, and manager Clint Erickson hopes Friday’s performance can get them moving in the right direction. Despite their mistakes made, the Blazers were in the game to the end and did many things well throughout the contest. The Blazers came out swinging, with two triples in the first inning alone.

“It was a heck of a baseball game,” Erickson said. “I don’t know if we’ve ever had a game with two triples and that was how we started. We came ready to play today. Our guys were mentally focused and I’m really proud of the effort today. Unfortunately, we did not come on top, but we were competitive and we played a pretty solid baseball game.”

Both sides found plenty of success swinging the lumber, as they combined for 16 hits. Yet it was the speed and aggressiveness on the bases that helped give the Defenders the edge. Lake Worth Christian ran all day long, swiping five bags while also having three runners caught on an attempt.

Every starter reached base for the Defenders, and eight of the starters scored. Collin Donnelly reached base four times, going 2-for-2 with an RBI and two walks. Roy Glaum was 2-for-5, including a two-RBI double in the second, and Greg Balicki had an RBI single and two walks.

Rovinel Mathilda reached base three times, scored twice and struck out six in three innings.

Boca Christian also had runners on base in every inning to keep plenty of pressure on the opposition. The Blazers jumped out with three runs in the first to show right away that this would be no easy battle. Gino Bellantoni lined a lead-off triple to right field, then scored on an RBI single from Michael Walsh, who then also scored when Austin Smith belted an RBI triple deep to the left-center field gap.

Zach Gray delivered a sac-fly RBI to score Smith, as he also had a big day at the plate. The second baseman went 2-for-2 with a walk and scored all three times he reached base. He also had a triple, which came on a shot to left field in his final at bat.

With a long season still ahead and a lot left to be decided, it was a nice first test for both sides. It was an exciting game that entertained the audience at a fast pace, while also being provided colorful play-by-play from announcer Danny Griffey. While the teams are rivals set to beat one another when they play, the game is too fun to play it any other way.

“We love playing each other and we have a great time,” Lawrence said.

Gino Bellantoni had a triple and a run in the first inning.

Leave a comment using your facebook account!