Resilience not enough as shorthanded Braddock baseball falls short against Boca Raton
Braddock’s baseball team faced a major challenge on Tuesday after 16 of its players were suspended just a day before its regional quarterfinal matchup against Boca Raton.
Five of the Bulldogs’ regulars in their starting lineup were out as were two of their starting pitchers.
And yet with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Braddock had the potential tying and winning runs on base.
With the bases loaded, junior left fielder Alex Gomez, one of the reserves called to action on this day, belted a sharp fly ball into center that appeared to have a chance to drop for a hit that would have drawn the Bulldogs closer to defying the odds in miraculous fashion.
But Boca Raton center fielder Dante Ambrose came diving in and made the catch to seal the game and end Braddock’s season with a 7-4 loss at home in the Region 4-7A quarterfinals.
“To have only three or four varsity guys in the lineup and to still have the winning run on base is … all I can say is I’m really proud of these guys,” Braddock coach and alum Harold Martinez said. “They gave it all they had against a good, 20-win team. A lot of these guys’ JV seasons had ended about a month ago. It’s just tough.”
Martinez spoke to his team in the outfield moments after the game was over. With his blue-colored hoodie covering his head, Martinez let his emotions out along with a few of his players.
It had been an exhausting 24 hours for Braddock after it learned it would be severely shorthanded against the Bobcats after the FHSAA handed down the suspensions stemming from an incident that occurred this past Thursday when Braddock played Columbus for the District 15-7A championship at Columbus.
A violent home plate collision during the bottom of the sixth inning of the game during which a Columbus baserunner ran into Braddock’s catcher prompted several players to leave both dugouts. Per FHSAA rules, if any player not actively playing in the game leaves the dugout or their position on the field during an inning, it results in an automatic one-game suspension.
However, video of the incident showed that no punches were thrown during the confrontation and both groups of players and coaches were cleared from the field allowing the game to be completed.
“I feel that this (penalty) was not right and it hurt us,” Martinez said. “It was a disservice to this team and this program for sure.”
Columbus was also hit with sanctions as 18 of its players were suspended for its playoff game against Western. The Explorers still won on Tuesday 3-2 with a walk-off win in the bottom of the seventh.
Braddock was not as fortunate.
With only four of its regular starters on the field and at the top of their lineup, the Bulldogs committed two errors in the first inning and fell behind 4-0 quickly.
Alex Rodriguez-Gallo, one of those starters, hit a two-run single in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 4-2.
But the Bulldogs were unable to muster much more offense until the seventh.
Braddock starter Devin Lopez, who had not hit in four years at Braddock, came up with a single and pitched five innings, allowing two earned runs.
“Devin hasn’t hit in four years, we had a JV player playing first base, we had two pitchers playing in the outfield and we had the bad start,” Martinez said. “After that, we could have won this game.”
Martinez was proud of his team, which overcame a 1-6 start to win 16 of 19 games heading into the postseason.
“The whole situation was tough,” Martinez said. “Getting suspended right before the game, no explanation, no nothing. What are our guys supposed to do? No punches were thrown. It’s very disappointing.
“We practiced before the game for two hours. Our goal was to play safe and make them beat us and the exact opposite happened early in the game. That’s why it’s so emotional right now. They never quit.”
