Boca Scores In 7th To Beat Crosstown Rival West Boca 4-3

It doesn’t take too long when West Boca and Boca get together, to realize that this is a crosstown rivalry that means something to both teams.

It was an energetic night at West Boca, and the emotions spilled into one of the better games of the young season so far in Palm Beach.

The Bobcats scored three runs early, then watched as the Bulls clawed back into the game. In the end, Boca scored one run in the top of the 7th, and then held on for a 4-3 win.

“I’m happy to get a win over a good West Boca squad,” said Boca Manager Ken Muller. “It was not close to being our best game, and we had a few costly errors that kept them in the game. But we have five sophomores in our starting lineup, and games like this are just part of the growing pains.”

The game did not start out sloppy for the Bobcats, who set the tone for the rivalry game in the first inning. Parks Fucci and TJ Gramesty started the game with back-to-back singles. A double play looked like it may end the threat, but a Daniel Tchou base hit, scored Fucci with the games first run.

In the second, the Bobcats struck again when Sean Disalvo and Brady Crawford singled. Fucci also had an RBI single in the inning, upping the score to 3-0.

Bobcats starter, junior Casey Cleghorn, was cruising through the early innings, allowing only one hit through the first three innings.

In the fourth, however, the Bulls were able to tighten the game. Aden Kovacs led off the inning with a walk. After a strikeout, James Evans singled. After an error brought in West Boca’s first run, Brady Walton hit a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 3-2.

The score stayed that way until the bottom of the sixth. Tyler Lichtenberger hit a one out single, and moved to second on a wild pitch. Matt Pagan then singled home Lichtenberger with the tying run.

In their half of the seventh, JP Calens reached on a two-out error, and scored what would become the winning run on a two-out, Nelson Corbera single.

The seventh held some drama, as Pier Figueroa led off with a single, and moved all the way over to third on a groundout, and a wild pitch. Cole Jank, who relieved Cleghorn, was able to put out the fire, however, getting a ground out to end the game.

“Our pitchers Casey and Cole did a great job of throwing strikes and limiting hard contact,” said Muller. “I was very happy with how we swung the bats (9 hits), and we hit several balls hard right at their defenders. If we can clean up a few defensive miscues, we can be a very good team.”

On the other side of the field, Bulls manager Mark McCoy had similar sentiments.

“In the end, we left 11 guys on base, including a guy in scoring position in six of the seven innings. I love this team, but we are young and need to learn how to win.”

The teams will only have to wait about a month until they renew the rivalry, this time, at Boca.

“Tonight was a really fun high school game to be a part of,” said McCoy. “Both teams played their hearts out and we tip our cap to Boca, they found a way to win. Ken (Muller) does a good job over there. I’m excited for the rematch in April.”

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