Boca Raton baseball beats Suncoast in extra innings after controversial walk-off
BOCA RATON — It did not feel like a regular-season game. Nor did it look like or sound like one.
Boca Raton baseball welcomed Suncoast to its field with redemption on the menu, but it took 11 innings before the Bobcats would emerge victorious in a 1-0 extra-innings thriller.
Forget pitchers' duel — this was a pitchers' war. Boca’s Kaden Bartlett and Zach Stefan combined for 14 strikeouts, while Suncoast’s Brady Benevides and Brady King combined for nine.
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How it happened
The four aces scattered a combined 10 hits across all 11 innings of play before the Bobcats (17-7) managed to post back-to-back singles that landed runners on the corners in the bottom of the 11th.
The Chargers (18-6) walked the next batter to load the bases and then brought the infield in.
King induced a textbook ground ball to short, where the ball appeared to arrive just in time for the out at home plate.
Except the umpire’s hands signaled safe, to the amazement of both coaches.
Slow-motion review of last night's bang-bang play that decided the game between @AthleticBobcat and @SuncoastCharge1 baseball in the bottom of the 11th inning.
Bases were loaded with one out. It was a forceout play at the plate.
Was it the right call? You decide. pic.twitter.com/D2dAuNLUOe— Alex Peterman (@Alex_Peterman) April 24, 2024
Video evidence of the play, albeit from the dugout perspective, makes quite the compelling case for the runner being out. Slowing it down to frame by frame, the ball appears to be secured in the catcher’s mitt with the runner still about a foot away from making contact with home plate.
“It was bang-bang,” Boca Raton head coach Christian Benhart said. “Either way, I wouldn’t have been surprised. Just because of how the game was going, I was anticipating him banging him out. I don’t know if he pulled his foot. From where I was, I thought he was out. I thought he was out, but I’ll take it.”
“It’s not even close,” Suncoast head coach Jimmy Beno said. “It’s not the way you want a game like this to end because it takes it out of the kids’ hands. You hate to see it end on a play where he was just ready to go home. I don’t know if he didn’t understand it was a force. I don’t know. It wasn’t even close.”
Ultimately, while the game’s ending failed to live up to the playoff atmosphere that each team brought to the field on Tuesday, it was still a spectacular display on the mound — just like the first time these two teams faced each other in what was a 2-1 victory for Suncoast back in March.
“We know once we’re in the playoffs, we’re going to see arms like we saw tonight,” Benhart said. “We know we’re going to face those teams that play fundamentally sound defense. I think a game like this is great for us being a week away from districts. If you don’t see that in preparation for the playoffs, you’re setting yourself up for failure.”
When Stefan stepped onto the mound as Boca’s closer in the seventh, he did not anticipate he would be pitching quite as long as he did — but he delivered, throwing what Benhart called the “best stuff he’s thrown all year.”
Each of the Bobcats’ hurlers claimed the slider as their favorite pitch of the night, as multiple hitters ended up chasing it out of the zone.
But beyond the mound for both teams was exceptional defensive play, especially from the infield.
Boca Raton’s shortstop Brian Parkinson commandeered multiple double plays for the Bobcats, while his Suncoast counterpart, Lee Ellis, was equally impressive for the Chargers.
Both teams had a few early chances that coaches lamented not being able to take advantage of as the game wore on.
Benhart said he’d like his team to execute bunting and small ball a little more effectively. On the other hand, Suncoast, too, failed to put a ball in play with two runners in scoring position with one out in the second inning.
“One of the things I tell the kids is, ‘You never lose the game because of the last play,’” Beno said. “‘We lost the game because we didn’t do what we needed to do in the 11 innings prior.’”
Win or lose, the marathon game served its complement of lessons to both squads as the Bobcats and Chargers prepare for what they hope are deep postseason runs.
Despite the regular season still offering one more tuneup game before playoffs, district brackets have already been released.
No. 2 seed Suncoast will have a first-round bye week before facing No. 3 South Fork on April 30, at 4 p.m.
No. 2 seed Boca Raton will also have a bye week before facing the winner of Spanish River and Olympic Heights in the semifinals on April 30 at 6 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Boca Raton baseball edges Suncoast in extras on 'bang bang' walk-off
