By Dave Brousseau
FORT LAUDERDALE – Senior outfielder Nick Sabatino stood at the plate with a pair of runners in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh inning.
St. Thomas Aquinas, the defending Class 6A state champion, was down by a run in the deciding game three against West Boca Raton.
The two-year starter delivered one of the biggest hits in Aquinas playoff baseball history with a with a two-run double scoring Tyler Burpee and Jaden Doverspike as Aquinas escaped with a 15-14 victory regional semifinal victory on Saturday.
“I knew their guy was throwing hard and I had to get on top of it,” said Sabatino, who led the team with five RBI. “I hit the outside pitch the other way. We knew we could battle back because we’d done it all year. We knew we had a chance and we’ll take it.”
The teams combined for 32 hits, six extra bases and 11 pitchers in a game that lasted just over four hours.
The Raiders (24-5) advance to the regional finals against Miami Southridge in the best of three series beginning on Friday.
The combined 29 runs in a playoff victory were the most by the Raiders since their first playoff appearance in 1970. The 15 runs tied the team record for most in a playoff win, second only to the 17 scoring against Ida Baker in game one of last year regional quarterfinal.
“That baseball team we played battled,” said St. Thomas Aquinas coach Joey Wardlow. “It was an incredible day of baseball. It seemed six of seven times the game was over and then it wasn’t. Our kids believed in themselves. If you leave the game on the line to Sabatino, he’s going to get it done.”
Down 14-12 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, two players reached base on errors, while another was hit by a pitch after Aquinas closed the score at 14-13.
Aquinas led 6-1, entering the top of the fifth inning before the Bulls put six runs on the board for a 7-6 lead. The lead was short lived as the Raiders added four runs in the bottom of the inning, two coming on a Sabatino two-run single.
West Boca went up 14-10 in the top of the sixth inning with six runs, two coming on a single from Christian Fallacara-Saunders.
A Sabatino RBI single helped cut the Raiders deficit to 14-12 entering the seventh inning.
Brady Buxbaum added three hits and three RBI for the Raiders. He also pitched the top of the seventh inning, while holding the Bulls scoreless.
West Boca won game two of the best-of-three series 5-0 to force the deciding game three.
Dave Brousseau is a veteran journalist who worked at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and is a longtime BCAA Correspondent. Need to reach out to him? Contact him at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.