ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Resilient. Tough. Unwavering. Champions. Call them what you will, but the latter is the word that counts. After falling into an early hole in the Florida Collegiate Summer League Championship game at Tropicana Field, the Altamonte Springs Boom stormed back and held off a ninth-inning rally from the top-seeded Sanford River Rats to win the franchise’s first title, 5-4.
Christian Hicks (Florida) was named MVP of the championship game on Sunday night. He finished 1-for-4 with two RBI, delivering a go-ahead base hit in the seventh inning.
The Boom were held hitless through the first five innings and were facing a 1-0 deficit, but the tide changed in the sixth inning. Cristian Rivera (Webber International) finally broke through against Sanford’s Nick Swan with a leadoff double. However, after advancing to third on a flyout to center field, he was stranded on base.
Altamonte Springs then came back strong in the seventh inning. Danny Rodriguez (Bethune-Cookman) reached on an error to open the inning, and advanced to second on Seth Johnson’s (Grand Valley State) single. A well-placed sacrifice bunt from Nicholas Gallo (Oklahoma State) put two runners in scoring position for the Boom. From there, Hicks delivered a two-run single to give Altamonte its first lead, 2-1.
That prompted a pitching change, as Sanford went to the bullpen for the first time in the game. A new pitcher gave the Boom a chance to exercise some patience, as they coaxed out back-to-back walks. Sanford was then forced to go to the bullpen again, with Russell Schwertfeger (USC-Upstate) coming to bat. He was unfortunately set down on strikes, bringing Mickey Scott (Texas State) up with the bags full and two outs. Scott picked up an RBI the painful way, reaching base on a hit-by-pitch to give the Boom a 3-1 lead.
The Boom did not have the lead for long, as the River Rats rallied back for two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Sergio Lopez (Hillsborough CC) led off with a single, advanced to third on two wild pitches and scored on a sacrifice fly from Garrett Wolforth (Dallas Baptist). Later in the inning, an RBI double from Collin Morrill (New Orleans) tied the game at 3-3.
Although it lost the lead in the seventh, Altamonte came back with single runs in the eighth and ninth innings to take a 5-3 lead over Sanford. In the eighth inning, Seth Johnson reached on a one-out walk. He found himself in scoring position when Gallo drove a double into the gap, putting runners on second and third. A wild pitch allowed Johnson to come into score, but a double play ended the inning for the Boom.
In the ninth, the Boom added a very important insurance run. Rivera led off with a walk, and advanced to second when Scott was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game. Another walk loaded the bases for Altamonte. However, much like the seventh inning, Sanford got a strikeout to put its opponent in a bases loaded, two-outs situation. And, like that inning, a mistake from Sanford — this time a passed ball — allowed Altamonte Springs to score to take a 5-3 lead.
Needing three outs, the Boom stuck with Jason Bahr (UCF) in the ninth inning. Consecutive singles to open the inning gave the River Rats runners on first and second. Trying to simply move runners to first and second, the Rats ended up with bases loaded and no outs. An error and fielder’s choice brought home a run, cutting the deficit to only one — the bases remained loaded with no outs.
However, Bahr remained calm and got what he was looking for — a groundball. On a 2-1 count, Bahr induced a 3-2-3 double play, leaving runners on second and third with two outs. Bahr intentionally walked the next batter to set up a force at any base and a showdown with Lopez. Bahr got to a 2-2 count, and then Lopez fouled off the fifth pitch of the at-bat. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat — Bahr’s 45th in the game — Lopez struck out and the Boom celebration ensued on the pitcher’s mound.
Bahr earned the save, pitching 1.2 innings for the Boom. He surrendered one run on two hits, walked three and struck out three. He was the eighth pitcher in the game, as the Boom went with pitcher-by-committee on the mound. Jose Peguero (Miami Dade College), Jaylyn Whitehead (New Mexico), Nick Dearing (Embry-Riddle), Andy Ward (FSU), Jared Middleton (West Florida) and Stephen Chamblee (Undecided) each pitched an inning. Anthony Rosati (West Alabama) pitched 1.1 innings and earned the win for Altamonte Springs.
The Boom won the championship in only their second season in the Florida League. The team finished 22-19 in the regular season, good for the No. 2 seed. They followed by winning of three of their four playoff games to secure the first championship.
