Playoff baseball: St. John Paul II bashes Benjamin in first-round upset

PALM BEACH GARDENS — Sports adages almost always have a ring of truth to them, like the one where it's difficult to beat an opponent three times in a row within a season.

Coming into Wednesday afternoon's Class 3A regional playoff game, Benjamin had beaten St. John Paul II 6-1 on March 12 in Boca Raton and 5-2 on April 16 on the Buccaneers' home field, where they came into Wednesday with a 10-3 season record.

"Three in a row is always difficult," Benjamin head coach Chad Mills said before the game. "We'll see how things fall today."

What would fall, for the most part, were hits by the Eagles (12-14-1) — all 17 of them — in a 14-0 rout of the Bucs (15-11).

St. John Paul II chased Benjamin's sophomore starting pitcher Johnny Havlicek, one of the Bucs' three grandsons of late NBA star John Havlicek, in the third inning after Eagles junior first baseman Lincoln Dorland hit a two-RBI triple to give his team a 3-0 lead.

The Eagles' starting pitcher, junior Connor Cavo, never gave the Bucs a chance to get anything started. He had a perfect game through 4 1/3 innings and a no-hitter through 4 2/3 after allowing a walk to Bucs freshman first baseman Brandon Owens in the fifth inning. He was pulled from the game by head coach Peter Graffeo one batter later, with the Eagles up 7-0, in anticipation of advancing to the next playoff game over the weekend.

"We kept Connor to 55 pitches," Graffeo said. "If he'd gotten to 60 pitches, he'd be required to have three days of rest. This way he's eligible for the next round."

High Heat: An essential guide to Palm Beach County high school baseball

Dorland would finish the game with four hits and five RBIs. Junior catcher Beau Rurey also had four hits and scored two runs; junior center fielder Thomas Velardi tallied three hits and two RBIs, and sophomore third baseman Tommy Ciaccio had two hits and three RBIs for a youthful Eagles squad. Most starters will return for next season.

Benjamin's only hit of the game was a seventh-inning triple by sophomore centerfielder Griffin Miller.

In spite of their overall losing record, the Eagles have considerably outscored their opponents this season, the result of several close losses and a few blowout wins. With a four-run fifth inning and a six-run seventh, they made the shutout over Benjamin resemble a football score.

Next up for the Eagles is Cardinal Newman, which beat Central Florida school Umatilla 1-0 in West Palm Beach on Wednesday night.

"Umatilla would have to come to us if they win," Graffeo said afterward, with the other regional playoff still being decided. "But we'd have to go to Newman."

Growing up fast, the young Eagles get another road playoff game on Saturday.

"We're just happy to still be playing at this time of year," said Graffeo. "We're down to the final 16 teams in our classification. So we'll enjoy this one and get back to practice on Friday."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: St. John Paul II baseball bashes Benjamin in first-round playoff upset