CCC squeezes in 14th-inning run to top Tampa Prep, 1-0 in final
After 13 1/2 innings of scoreless baseball, Clearwater Central Catholic speed-up runner Travis Chaby slides home to score the deciding run in a 1-0 thriller against Tampa Prep to claim the Class 2A-District 10 championship.
By Chuck Frye, Senior Staff Writer
ST. PETERSBURG – This is a rivalry for all the right reasons, one based on close, hard-fought battles where the stakes are high. In two short years, that’s what Tampa Prep and Clearwater Central Catholic have cultivated.
Consider this: In four meetings before Friday night’s clash for the Class 2A-District 10 title, the largest margin of victory was when Tampa Prep won last year’s district crown, 4-1. The Terrapins also bested the Marauders in a pair of one-run decisions in 2025 including a walk-off walk in the 14th inning.
CCC started to flip the script this year when Austin Snyder’s bases-loaded free pass was the only run in a late February victory. And when the teams took the field at St. Petersburg Catholic, one thing was a given: scoring would be a rare commodity.
When an opportunity to take the lead was created, pitcher after pitcher repetitively silenced the opposition’s bats to crush the threat. Inning after scoreless inning rolled by until the game ironically reached the series’ mythical tipping point, the 14th inning. Given his shot to be the hero, junior Sam Heintz wasn’t going to go down swinging. Instead, he broke the mold by bunting, scoring classmate Travis Chaby in a close play to end the 3 1/2-hour marathon, taking home the 1-0 decision and the trophy that came with it.
We absolutely love being out there covering our local baseball action, but we need support from our audience to make it happen. Please consider supporting us: Support our work at 813Preps!
“Honestly, I wasn’t really nervous,” the No. 9 batter in the Marauders’ order said about his sixth plate appearance of the game. “Walking up (to the plate) I was, but once I got there I was good.”
When he reached the right-hand batter’s box, he saw courtesy runner Chaby at third base. Running for catcher Justin Ficca, who reached on a fielder’s choice, Chaby advanced when a Terrapin fielder grabbed Ivan Cruz’s grounder looking to force out the junior, but instead air-mailed the ball into the outfield.
With runners on the corners in the 14th inning, No. 9 batter Sam Heintz drops down a safety squeeze bunt.
Facing lefty reliever Tyler Kin for the third time, Heintz had his marching orders and knew what he would face trying to accomplish it.
“In the (between-innings) meeting, (head coach Dan Wheeler) told me that if I get to a one-strike count, we’re probably going to bunt. I knew (Kin) was going to throw me a slider so I kind of made sure I got it down.”
“I’ve been around (former Tampa Bay Rays manager) Joe Maddon enough to where that safety squeeze is a big part of the game, so you play a little small ball,” the 14-year Major League veteran Wheeler explained. “It just seemed like the right situation: I had a good runner at third and a guy that can handle the bat at home.”
Leading off what would be a four-man, 14-inning shutout, CCC senior Cooper Riley worked the first three innings, allowing one hit and three walks while striking out four.
Wheeler was right on both counts.
Heintz turned quickly and dropped a bunt in front of the mound and Chaby broke home when the ball hit the ground. Kin fielded the ball in stride and dashed to the plate, slapping the tag as the sliding Chaby crossed the plate only to see the ball come loose.
“That play at home, I think Tyler had him out if the ball hadn’t come out of his glove when he flipped over,” Terrapins head coach A.J. Hendrix said. “It was a phenomenal effort by him, another great play in this little series we have going on.”
Tampa Prep starter Erik Skiendziel was a bulldog, reaching his 105-pitch limit in battling through 7 2/3 innings of four-hit ball, striking out 10.
Tampa Prep (12-14) had plenty of great plays and great players. Kin worked 5 2/3 innings of relief, scattering five hits and deftly dodging a pair of scoring opportunities.
Junior starter Erik Skiendziel was dazzling, yielding just four hits over 7 2/3 innings with only one inning where CCC (16-8) got more than one base runner.
“Erik’s birthday was a couple of weeks ago, which made him able to throw 105 pitches,” said Hendrix, who wanted Skiendziel to throw a few under that maximum until he reached the mound with one out in the eighth. “He wanted one more batter and he knew that was going to be it. He’s a gutsy kid and he talked me into it.”
Skiendziel finished his stint with his 10th strikeout.
One more batter: As third baseman Liam Akins (left) looks on, Tampa Prep starting pitcher Erik Skiendziel pleads his case. Head coach A.J. Hendrix agreed and the result was Skiendziel’s 10th and final strikeout.
Freshman Luc Thornton doubled, walked three times, and reached on an error. Senior Liam Akins singled, walked three times, twice intentionally, and was hit by a pitch. DH Jordan Della Rocca and Dennis Martino had two hits apiece. But batters six through nine only reached base three times in 24 at-bats which made sustaining rallies difficult and stranded 17 runners, 11 in scoring position.
“I think we had some guys that went up to the plate and got a little tight,” Hendrix said. “They’re really good hitters, I’ve seen it in games and in practice all season long, but they just didn’t believe in themselves to do the job.”
Rollins College commit Liam Akins is greeted by his first base coach after a third-inning single. Akins reached base five times in an extra-inning battle against Clearwater Central Catholic.
Tampa Prep also suffered a heartbreaking faux pas in the 11th after loading the bases with just one out. A Terrapin batter struck out swinging on a ball in the dirt and instinctively broke for first although he was out as the base was occupied. Doing that caused the runner at third to break for home where catcher Ficca made the tag to end the rally.
Ranked seventh in Region 3 going into the game, Tampa Prep hopefully will get a shot at redemption and Hendrix knows what will turn the tide.
“We’ve just got to be able to compete at the plate. We’ve got to believe in ourselves and we’ve got a week to prepare ourselves for our next battle.”
Clearwater Central Catholic teammates mob Sam Heintz as his squeeze bunt scored the district title-winning walk-off run.
⚾ Class 2A-District 10 Championship ⚾
Clearwater Central Catholic 1
Tampa Prep 0
T 000|000|000|000|00 – |0|6|1
C 000|000|000|000|01 – |1|9|3
W – Petruccelli (5-1); L – Kin (3-2)
2B – Thornton (T). Records – T (12-14); C (16-8).
⚾
Senior lefty Josh Rodrigues got the call next for the Marauders, stranding Terrapins runners in scoring position in each of the four shutout innings he worked.
⚾
This close: Sophomore Dennis Martino lets first base coach John DeTringo know after his first of two singles.
⚾
Marauders reliever Josh Rodrigues tracks down Grant Brooks’ fourth-inning sacrifice bunt and throws out the Tampa Prep senior.
⚾
Terrapins rightfielder Tyler Kin backtracks to pull in DH Cooper Riley’s deep fourth-inning fly ball.
⚾
This was a familiar sight in Friday’s district final: Tampa Prep freshman Luc Thornton being celebrated for reaching base which he did five times.
⚾
Terrapins DH Jordan Della Rocca get drilled with a seventh-inning pitch.
⚾
Moving over from shortstop, and before his 14th-inning heroics, junior Sam Heintz fought through five innings of two-hit ball while fanning seven, walking three and hitting a batter.
⚾
Senior Tyler Kin threw darts over 5 2/3 innings for Tampa Prep, battling through three innings of Marauders’ threats before the top seed broke through in dramatic fashion in the 14th inning.
⚾
CCC second baseman Ivan Cruz shows the umpire the ball but his tag was too late giving Evan Bahlmann a 10th-inning stolen base.
⚾
Senior Roman Petruccelli was on fire in his two innings of work, striking out the first five batters he faced in picking up the district title victory.
⚾
Kin puts down the tag but stumbles over Chaby’s legs as the ball shakes loose from his glove.
⚾
As Terrapins catcher Grant Brooks looks on, Kin tumbles to the ground and the ball flies away while Chaby slides through a cloud of dust with the winning run.
⚾
Seeing that the ball had gotten loose, Travis Chaby (#22) flashes a big safe sign.
⚾
A stunned group of Tampa Prep players try to process what just happened as the game ended on a squeeze bunt in the 14th inning.
