- Buchholz lost 5-1 to St. Thomas Aquinas in the 6A state baseball championship at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.
- Buchholz finished 25-8 and ended as state runner-up for the third consecutive year despite taking an early lead in the third inning.
- In the game, Buchholz took an early 1-0 lead in the third inning with a hit by Roen Kresak but was limited to only two hits afterward, leading to their loss.
It was closer this time around, but the third time was not the charm for the Buchholz baseball team.
Buchholz took the lead in the third inning but was held scoreless after that and managed only two hits in a 5-1 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) in the 6A state championship game at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers on Saturday afternoon.
St. Thomas Aquinas (28-6) won their second straight state title and fifth in school history. The Raiders beat Buchholz, 8-3, in last year’s state title game in Fort Myers.
Buchholz finished 25-8 and ended up as the state runner-up for the third straight year.
“The difference was a lot of two-out hits for them and hits in key situations,” Buchholz coach Chris Malphurs said. “And we couldn’t get that big hit. Reed Thomas pitched well and got us in a position to win, but two hits just isn’t going to get it done.”
In losses to Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens) and St. Thomas Aquinas the last two years, Buchholz fell behind by five runs or more in the first three innings. This time, the Bobcats broke out on top in the bottom of the third.
Tyler Thurmond walked to lead off the inning. Courtesy runner Ashton Norris stole second and went to third on a groundout. With two outs, junior Roen Kresak delivered a hit that bounced off the Aquinas third baseman and rolled into left field for a 1-0 Buchholz lead.
St. Thomas Aquinas came right back in the top of the fourth. With one out, Jake Carruthers singled and Hayden Robinson reached on an error by Buchholz’s second baseman, Blake Brewer. With two outs, Mauricio Clement blooped a hit just out of the reach of Buchholz center fielder Angel Irizarry, and the Raiders led 2-1.
”There were a lot of little plays that, if you look back at it, made a difference in the game,” Malphurs said. “In these state championship games, you need to limit mistakes, and we just made too many mistakes to win this game. It just wasn’t our day.”
Buchholz got the first two hitters on in the bottom of the fifth. Zac Brown came up and hit a long drive that was caught on the warning track in left field. Norris tagged up to third, but Antoine Deleyrolle slid past second base and was tagged out for the second out. That ended the rally and Buchholz didn’t threaten after that.
“There were some balls that were hit that would have been out of other parks but just fly outs here,” Malphurs said. “Zac Brown’s ball in the fifth was the only ball that was over an outfielder’s head.”
Aquinas got an insurance run in the 6th on another two-out single by Clement, then put it away in the 7th on RBI singles by USF signee Brady Buxbaum and Robinson for a 5-1 Raiders lead.
Thomas, a Florida Gulf Coast signee, took the only loss of his senior year, allowing 8 hits and 5 runs in 6.1 innings.
Malphurs was asked what he told his team after a third straight championship setback.
“Thank you,” he said. “They are such a pleasure to coach. We measure success on other things than what is in our trophy case. These players are going to be successful at so many things in life other than baseball.”
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